The Bengals' Brutal Fifth-Year Option Reality Check: Why Cincinnati's 2023 Draft Class Already Looks Like a Missed Opportunity

Let me be direct with you. The Cincinnati Bengals had one job with their 2023 draft class, and they are already showing signs of botching it. When we talk about fifth-year options on first-round picks, we are talking about the most important roster decision a team makes in the offseason beyond free agency signings. This is where you either commit to your young foundational pieces or admit you made a mistake. For the Bengals, the May 1 deadline for these decisions has come and gone, and the reality of what happened in 2023 has become impossible to ignore.

The Bengals selected Denzell Washington Jr., a defensive tackle from Georgia, with the 29th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. This was supposed to be the answer to Cincinnati's interior defensive line problems. This was supposed to be the plug they needed alongside some of their existing pieces to make that defense actually respectable. But here we are, two years later, watching the Bengals make the decision that countless other franchises made: they did not pick up Washington's fifth-year option. Let that sink in for a moment. The Bengals used a first-round pick on a player and two years later, they did not think he was good enough to guarantee money beyond his rookie deal structure.

This is not about Washington as a person. This is not about questioning his work ethic or character. This is about the Bengals brass looking at the performance metrics and the tape and concluding that they made a mistake. That is what a declined fifth-year option really means in football. It means you were wrong. It means the scouting department was wrong. It means the coaching staff could not develop him into what was promised. When you decline a fifth-year option on a first-round pick, you are essentially admitting failure.

Now, let's talk about why this matters so much to Cincinnati specifically. The Bengals are a franchise that has made tremendous strides under Zac Taylor and with Joe Burrow as their quarterback. They have made the Super Bowl. They have been to the AFC Championship Game multiple times. They have invested heavily in their roster, and they have managed to stay relatively competitive despite playing in the AFC North, which is arguably the toughest division in professional football. But here is the thing about staying competitive in the AFC North: you cannot afford to waste first-round picks. You cannot afford mistakes. The Ravens are constantly finding value in the draft. The Steelers have a long tradition of getting it right at the top of the draft. The Browns have invested heavily in high draft picks.

The Bengals' track record with first-round selections has been solid in recent years, but it has not been perfect. When you look at the 2023 class through a Cincinnati lens, Washington's decline represents something troubling. It represents a team that may have overestimated their ability to evaluate defensive talent or develop players at that position. The Bengals have spent considerable resources trying to fix their defense, and Washington was supposed to be part of that puzzle. Instead, two years in, he is a financial casualty.

This creates a real problem for Cincinnati moving forward. When you draft a player in the first round, you are not just making a financial commitment for four years. You are making a philosophical statement about your scouting department. You are saying we believe in this player at this position at this level. You are essentially putting your credibility on the line. The Bengals' decision not to extend Washington two years into his contract is a vote of no confidence that will follow this organization. Opposing scouts will notice it. Free agents will notice it. The narrative will be set.

Let me be clear about something else. The Bengals do not have unlimited resources to build a championship roster. They have Joe Burrow, and they need to pay Joe Burrow. They have other talented players, and they need to pay those players. The salary cap is a real constraint, and I understand that declining fifth-year options can sometimes be a necessary financial move. But when it is a player taken at 29th overall, a player who was supposed to be a foundational piece on defense, it is not just a salary cap move. It is an indictment.

The broader issue for Cincinnati is that their defense has remained a question mark throughout the Burrow era. They have an incredible quarterback. They have decent weapons. But that defense has held them back. They have not been able to get stops when they need them. They have not been able to generate consistent pressure. They have not been able to prevent opposing offenses from having field days against them. Washington was supposed to help solve that problem. Instead, he will either walk in free agency or be franchised or traded, and the Bengals will have nothing to show for that first-round pick in terms of long-term roster building.

This is where I separate myself from the consensus crowd. Most analysts will look at the declining fifth-year options across the league and simply say it is a part of football, that some picks just do not work out, that it happens to everyone. That is lazy thinking. The truth is that declining a first-round pick's fifth-year option is a significant failure that impacts how that franchise should be evaluated going forward. It tells you something fundamental about the decision-making process in that organization.

The Bengals have been one of the better-run franchises over the past few years, but they are not infallible. They are not hitting on every pick. And when they miss on a first-round defensive tackle taken 29th overall, it matters more than when other teams miss. Why? Because the Bengals are trying to compete in the AFC North with limited margin for error. They cannot waste assets. They cannot afford to have their scouting department go 0 for 1 on a player supposed to be a long-term solution.

Moving forward, Cincinnati needs to be more conservative with their draft evaluations. They need to be more honest about what their scouts are seeing on tape. They need to stop overestimating potential and start focusing on production. The fifth-year option decision on Washington is the final word on that draft pick. It is not coming back. The Bengals have moved on, but the damage to their credibility in the draft room has been done.

VERDICT: The Bengals' decision to decline Denzell Washington's fifth-year option is a Grade C- organizational move that represents a waste of draft capital the franchise could not afford. Cincinnati is trying to compete with limited resources, and they cannot afford these kinds of misses on first-round defensive tackles. This decision will haunt the Bengals in the coming years as they search for defensive solutions to keep pace in the AFC North, and it should prompt serious questions about how the scouting department evaluates defensive talent.