2026 Cincinnati Bengals season
59th season in franchise history; 57th season in the National Football League
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The 2026 season will be the Cincinnati Bengals' 57th in the National Football League (NFL), their 59th overall, their 27th playing their home games at Paycor Stadium, and their eighth under head coach Zac Taylor.[1] The Bengals will seek to improve upon their 6–11 record from the previous season, make the playoffs after a three-year absence, and put an end to 3 consecutive seasons not winning the AFC North. On April 18, the Bengals traded the 10th overall pick to the New York Giants in exchange for DT Dexter Lawrence. This was the first time Cincinnati had ever traded a top-ten draft pick.[2] The Bengals will also play in the NFL International Series for the first time since 2019.
| 2026 Cincinnati Bengals season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Mike Brown |
| Head coach | Zac Taylor |
| Home stadium | Paycor Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 0–0 |
| Uniform | |
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Offseason
Signings
| Position | Player | 2025 Team | Date signed | Contract |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CB | Jalen Davis | Cincinnati Bengals | February 20 | 1 year, $1.575 million |
| G | Dalton Risner | Cincinnati Bengals | March 2 | 1 year, $3.25 million |
| DE | Boye Mafe | Seattle Seahawks | March 12 | 3 years, $60 million |
| S | Bryan Cook | Kansas City Chiefs | March 12 | 3 years, $40.25 million |
| DT | Jonathan Allen | Minnesota Vikings | March 13 | 2 years, $25 million |
| QB | Joe Flacco | Cincinnati Bengals | March 24 | 1 year, $6 million |
| CB | Ja'Sir Taylor | New York Jets | April 2 | 1 year, $1.215 million |
| S | Kyle Dugger | Pittsburgh Steelers | April 2 | 1 year, $1.4025 million |
Extensions
| Position | Player | Date signed | Contract |
|---|---|---|---|
| OT | Orlando Brown | March 12 | 2 years, $32 million |
| DT | Dexter Lawrence | April 19 | 1 year, $28 million |
Departures
| Position | Player | 2026 Team | Date signed | Contract |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TE | Noah Fant | New Orleans Saints | March 11 | 2 years, $8.75 million |
| G | Cordell Volson | Tennessee Titans | March 12 | 1 year, $2.45 million |
| DE | Joseph Ossai | New York Jets | March 12 | 3 years, $34.5 million |
| DE | Trey Hendrickson | Baltimore Ravens | March 12 | 4 years, $112 million |
| QB | Jake Browning | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | March 13 | 1 year, $1.3325 million |
| CB | Marco Wilson | Miami Dolphins | March 13 | 1 year, $1.315 million |
| S | Geno Stone | Buffalo Bills | March 16 | 1 year, $1.4025 million |
| CB | Cam Taylor-Britt | Indianapolis Colts | March 17 | 1 year, $1.4025 million |
| S | Tycen Anderson | Denver Broncos | March 19 | 1 year, $1.5 million |
| G | Lucas Patrick | New York Giants | April 6 | 1 year, $1.4875 million |
| DE | Cameron Sample | San Francisco 49ers | April 13 | 1 year, $1.3935 million |
Draft
| Round | Selection | Player | Position | College | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | Traded to the New York Giants | |||
| 2 | 41 | Cashius Howell | DE | Texas A&M | |
| 3 | 72 | Tacario Davis | CB | Washington | |
| 4 | 110 | Traded to the New York Jets | |||
| 128 | Connor Lew | C | Auburn | From Jets | |
| 140 | Colbie Young | WR | Georgia | From Jets via Lions | |
| 5 | 149 | Traded to the Cleveland Browns | |||
| 6 | 189 | Brian Parker II | C | Duke | |
| 199 | Traded to the New York Jets | ||||
| 7 | 221 | Jack Endries | TE | Texas | From Giants via Cowboys |
| 226 | Landon Robinson | DT | Navy | ||
Notes
- Bengals traded a fifth-round selection (149th overall) to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for a sixth-round selection (199th overall) and QB Joe Flacco.
- Bengals traded LB Logan Wilson to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for a seventh-round pick (221st overall).
- Bengals traded the 10th overall pick to the New York Giants in exchange for DT Dexter Lawrence.
- Bengals traded the 110th and 199th overall picks to the New York Jets in exchange for the 128th and 140th overall picks.
Undrafted free agents
| Name | Position | College | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corey Robinson II | OT | Arkansas | [3] |
| Jack Dingle | LB | Cincinnati | |
| Noah Thomas | WR | Georgia | |
| Jamal Haynes | RB | Georgia Tech | |
| Josh Kattus | TE | Kentucky | |
| Liam Brown | G | Montana | |
| Ceyair Wright | CB | Nebraska | |
| Christian Jones | OT | San Diego State | |
| Kentrel Bullock | RB | South Alabama | |
| Eric Gentry | LB | USC | |
| Isaiah Nwokobia | S | SMU | [4] |
Staff
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| |||||
Current roster
Preseason
| Week | Date | Time (EDT) | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Network | Recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 13 | 7:00 p.m. | Detroit Lions | Paycor Stadium | FOX19 | |||
| 2 | August 22 | 7:00 p.m. | Chicago Bears | Paycor Stadium | FOX19 | |||
| 3 | August 28 | 7:00 p.m. | at Philadelphia Eagles | Lincoln Financial Field | CBS |
Regular season
Schedule
| Week | Date | Time (ET) | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Network | Recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 13 | 1:00 p.m. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Paycor Stadium | Fox | |||
| 2 | September 20 | 1:00 p.m. | at Houston Texans | Reliant Stadium | CBS | |||
| 3 | September 27 | 1:00 p.m. | at Pittsburgh Steelers | Acrisure Stadium | CBS | |||
| 4 | October 4 | 1:00 p.m. | Jacksonville Jaguars | Paycor Stadium | CBS | |||
| 5 | October 11 | 1:00 p.m. | at Miami Dolphins | Hard Rock Stadium | Fox | |||
| 6 | Bye | |||||||
| 7 | October 25 | 1:00 p.m. | at Baltimore Ravens | M&T Bank Stadium | CBS | |||
| 8 | November 1 | 1:00 p.m. | Tennessee Titans | Paycor Stadium | CBS | |||
| 9 | November 8 | 9:30 a.m. | at Atlanta Falcons |  Bernabéu (Madrid) |
NFLN | |||
| 10 | November 15 | 8:20 p.m. | Pittsburgh Steelers | Paycor Stadium | NBC | |||
| 11 | November 23 | 8:15 p.m. | at Washington Commanders | Northwest Stadium | ESPN | |||
| 12 | November 29 | 1:00 p.m. | New Orleans Saints | Paycor Stadium | CBS | |||
| 13 | December 6 | 1:00 p.m. | at Cleveland Browns | Huntington Bank Field | CBS | |||
| 14 | December 13 | 4:25 p.m. | Kansas City Chiefs | Paycor Stadium | Fox | |||
| 15 | December 20 | 1:00 p.m. | at Carolina Panthers | Bank of America Stadium | Fox | |||
| 16 | December 26/27 | TBD | at Indianapolis Colts | Lucas Oil Stadium | TBD | |||
| 17 | December 31 | 8:20 p.m. | Baltimore Ravens | Paycor Stadium | Prime Video | |||
| 18 | January 9/10 | TBD | Cleveland Browns | Paycor Stadium | TBD | |||
Notes
- Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
- Networks and times from Weeks 5–17 and dates from Weeks 12–17 are subject to change as a result of flexible scheduling, for the exceptions of Weeks 9 and 11.[5]
- The date, time and network for Week 16 will be finalized at a later date.[5]
- The date, time and network for Week 18 will be finalized at the end of Week 17.[5]