2025 Bengals the most dangerous team in the NFL if they get in the playoffs?

[COB]

On 12/5/2025 at 8:09 AM, AMPHAR said:

Again, what lesson?    They were right in not guaranteeing multiple years for him.  

You are correct, the Brown family hopefully learned their lesson.  

[AMPHAR]

I'd like to see an extension for Ossasi, if it can be done in a fair range.   Murphy not sure if you pick up his 5th year.   I think both are valuable as rotational pieces but neither are going to be foundation pieces for a defense.    Both have played good well 4 weeks in a row vs. quality QBs  where it seems covering underneath routes is a real struggle for the back end of the defense. 

 

[AMPHAR]

One of the bigges issues next year in rebuilding a defense will be the FA class once again appears weak.  Before tags and extensions I've seen Hilton listed as a top 30 FA.   That's not good if you're hoping to rebuild a defense. 

 

[ArmyBengal]

Yeah, I don't think they have much choice but to try to bring back Ossai and pick up Murphy's 5th year.
Trey will probably be gone and Stewart is a complete unknown.  FA looks full of equal questions.
The draft should bring at least 1 new DE, but they need more.  Letting Ossai walk would be a mistake.

That's not a resounding plug for him, just a common sense approach.

[HoosierCat]

I agree they need to bite the bullet and pay Ossai. Spotrac estimates his upcoming deal in the $15 million/year range, so something like 4 years, $60 million. We'll see if that's too pricey for the FO.

[ArmyBengal]

When looking, Ossai is also one of the younger DE's that will be on the market with many in their 30's.

[AMPHAR]

32 minutes ago, HoosierCat said:

I agree they need to bite the bullet and pay Ossai. Spotrac estimates his upcoming deal in the $15 million/year range, so something like 4 years, $60 million. We'll see if that's too pricey for the FO.

$15m seems about right with cap growth.    There are multiple players from his draft class that basically the same player stat wise so I don't think the market will be as strong considering he was a FA last year and could only muster a 1 year deal. 

 

[HoosierCat]

Yeah, something around 15 is fine by me. I suspect he will generate more interest if he get into FA next year though. Last year he was coming off his first real year (2024) of significant playing time and still had some lingering injury stigma. This season he improved on his play from 2024 and has made 8 (so far) of his 11 (so far) career starts.

Plus his agent is David Mulugheta, whose history with the Bengals is, ummm, mixed.

Hopefully they can get something done.

[AMPHAR]

On 2nd thought Ossasi will have trouble come close to those numbers in FA.   Its a packed top 50 for edge players in the draft about 12 rated in top 50 prospects.  Realistically a DE needy team could potentially add 2 in the draft's first 2 rounds if they chose.   Plus there' a couple more names out of his 2021 class that have bounced around in trade talks that would be hitting FA for the first time ranked higher than him but probably be in that $15+m range.   Then a couple more teams prioritized over him last year still available. 

In the end its a thin FA class again.  Hendrickson is the top FA and the Bengals could land him with a simple tag.   Probably what they'll do starting off IF surgery goes well. 

He'll need to go off the charts crazy with sacks these last few games to up that market value, IMO. 

 

[Prophecy]

On 12/8/2025 at 7:36 AM, HoosierCat said:

I agree they need to bite the bullet and pay Ossai. Spotrac estimates his upcoming deal in the $15 million/year range, so something like 4 years, $60 million. We'll see if that's too pricey for the FO.

Problem is, if his market value is $15M per, Bengals will need to pay significantly more than that, because their cheap asses never guarantee anything more than the 1st year of the deal. Ossai will take the $15M (or less) annually somewhere else if he is guaranteed 2 or 3 years. 

Brown Family need to change the way they approach these contracts.