Bengals boast prominent spot in first offseason power rankings

The Cincinnati Bengals already have some good futures odds to win Super Bowl 58 right as the offseason gets started.

So it shouldn’t register as much of a shocker to see those Joe Burrow-led Bengals charting highly in post-Super Bowl power rankings, either.

Over at ESPN, a ranking of all 32 teams sees the Bengals landing fourth overall, with Ben Baby on the writeup:

“Burrow, the top overall draft pick in 2020, will be eligible for a contract extension this offseason. Once Cincinnati locks in Burrow for the foreseeable future, the Bengals will get a better sense of what their salary-cap situation will look like for the next few years. That will impact the other decisions that need to be made, such as whether Cincinnati can afford to give receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins top-of-market deals or whether the pass protection deserves another look this offseason. — Ben Baby”

That puts the Bengals behind the 49ers, Eagles and Chiefs, which is plenty fair. Sitting just behind the two Super Bowl teams and another NFC foe projected highly next year is a nice spot to be and it plants the Bengals as one of the two best teams in the AFC.

The urgency to get Joe Burrow’s extension done is because of the groundwork it will set for the rest of the team’s expenditures and moves this offseason and into future years.

Cincinnati has a huge free-agent class to figure out, other extensions to consider and ultimately must zero in on a few key areas to upgrade based on those losses and additions if the team wants to remain near the top of the conference.