Now that the Super Bowl has been played and free agency is approaching in a few weeks, the Last Word On Sports NFL department will be looking at the top three needs for each team. Today, the Cincinnati Bengals are the focus. The Bengals have the 24th pick in the 2016 NFL Draft and a plethora of players will hit free agency market this year. Starters include, tackle Andre Smith and wide receivers Mohamed Sanu and Marvin Jones, linebacker Vincent Rey, cornerbacks Leon Hall and Adam Jones, and safeties Reggie Nelson and George Iloka. It will leave the Bengals with some major decisions to make, and they aren’t a team that typically spends all the way up to the cap.
Cincinnati Bengals 2016 Off-Season – Top 3 Needs
Wide Receiver
It seems as though the two least likely in house players to return are Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu. Jones seems to be at the top of a decent number of teams free agency wish list as a young athletic up and coming wide receiver, and Mohamed Sanu has been linked to a couple teams, including playing with his former offensive coordinator in Cleveland. The two combined for 98 catches, 1,210 yards, and four touchdowns, and if both are gone there is basically nobody to play wide receiver opposite A.J. Green.
Going to free agency wouldn’t be the way the Bengals want to address this need, but if neither can be retained a cheaper free agent should be looked at. However, this is probably where the Bengals should look in the first round. The draft has a decent number of talented wide outs who can step in right away, and they could definitely find a guy with big upside even down in their draft position. It would help save money to spend on younger guys by not retaining the veteran wide receivers and gives Green a young counter punch for the next four years.
Safety
The Bengals will certainly want to bring back both Reggie Nelson and George Iloka, more so than the wide receivers, but these two may have just as much demand if not more. Iloka is coming off of a very efficient year and Nelson led the team with eight interceptions. Both will be near the top in potential free agents, and while Nelson has mentioned he would like to be back in Cincinnati, the thought would be that if he is back, at the least Iloka would be gone. This is another position the Bengals will likely want to highlight with the draft. It will depend on what and who they can retain, as the majority of the secondary may leave, but that means it will definitely need to be addressed.
Linebacker
Vincent Rey was second on the team in tackles in 2015. Emmanuel Lamur will join him as a free agent and he added 20 tackles as a depth linebacker for the Bengals. If the Bengals were to lose both of them, AJ Hawk would get a starting job back after losing it to Rey, and the Bengals would have Rey Maualuga and Vontaze Burfict. Maualuga is coming off of a down year for him, and while Burfict has a lot of talent, he will be suspended in the first three games this year and is basically a wild card week in and week out.
The best thing the Bengals can do here is retain Rey. The question will be how much they value Rey compared to all of the other free agents on the team. With depth here, and less depth in other positions he may slip out of their grasps. The Bengals again are unlikely to go to free agency, they have a veteran presence, but should just be looking to draft a linebacker at some point in the draft this year.
