The Cincinnati Bengals released their former Super Bowl starter on Monday.
The Cincinnati Bengals released a former Super Bowl offensive lineman with Alex Kappa’s guard on Monday.
The 30-year-old Kappa played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2020 Super Bowl and blocked for former quarterback Tom Brady. After four seasons with the Buccaneers, Kappa signed a four-year, $35 million contract with the Bengals in 2022. Kappa started in one regular season game in a three-year stint with the team and was a reliable starting guard for the Bengals.
With the release of Kappa, Cincinnati has made the move to free up $8 million in salary cap space. The Bengals currently have $69.22 million in the league’s sixth-ranked salary cap space.
Kappa is not the first salary cap victim by the Bengals this offseason. Cincinnati previously released defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins on February 21, freeing up $9.61 million in cap space, as they averaged $12.25 million a year. With a 30.5 career sack, the Rankins spent the year in 2024 as they only had one sack in seven games with the Bengals.
A 6-foot-6, 312-pound lineman, Kappa enjoys a successful career from Division II Humboldt. The Buccaneers chose Dublin, California to score their 94th pick in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft.
Cappa appeared in six games as a rookie for the Buccaneers in 2018, but in 2019 he became a regular starter in his second year with a 13-start. His start increased to 16 games in 2020 and has only missed one since.
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The team looking for a starting guard was able to pick up a kappa in free agency. He made $8.75 million a year with the Bengals, which cost a bit. However, his profile football focused on a 50.5 overall grade, putting him in 110th of the league’s 135 guards.
Teams looking for a starting guard include the Chicago Bears, Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins and Seattle Seahawks. All four of the aforementioned teams were in the top 15 sacks allowed last season, with the Chiefs’ issues being most prominently exhibited in the Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl defeat. Kansas City was hiring Kappa’s older teammates, especially on the 2020 Buccaneers team.
Ironically, Bengal was 12th in most sacks allowed, but after missing the playoffs, the team has many needs besides offensive security. The Bengals spent their career years from quarterback Joe Barrow, with 4,918 yards of passes and 43 touchdowns, but the team only went 9-8 in a defensive struggle with close losses.
Cincinnati lost seven of these games with those scores, and the Bengals gave up more than 26 points on seven of their eight losses. On October 13th, only the Eagles won 10 points or more with the Bengals, 37-17.
Cincinnati rolled the ball on defensive issues after the season with offensive coordinator Ruanalmo firing. The Bengals hired former Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden. He made Irish defense shine with 15.5 points, where 15.5 points are allowed per game towards the arrival of the national title game.
Cincinnati will look for defensive talent in drafts and free agency, but there are also current players in the Bengali who are considering re-signing. The biggest consideration goes to wide receiver Tee Higgins, who makes $21.81 million a year.
Higgins scored 73 catches for 911 yards and 10 touchdowns as a key role in Barrow’s success. In his sixth year wideout from Clemson, he was able to get the franchise tag again, as he did in 2024 for $2181 million.
Cincinnati also needs to consider fellow star wideout jamachase, who has a $2181 million club option for the team on a rookie contract in 2025. Chase will then be able to become a free agent in 2026.
