Before the start of free agency we initially took a look at the Steelers AFC North division opponents to see what moves they were going to make during the offseason.

It’s now time to reexamine the moves each of these teams has made, starting with the Bengals.

Rather than cover all of the statistical analysis from the previous article, I’d like to simply review the team leaders at each major category.

2016 Rankings

Record: 6-9-1, 3rd AFC North

Rushing Leaders	Att	Yards	Avg	TDs	FUM
Jeremy Hill	222	839	3.8	9	0
Rex Burkhead	74	344	4.6	2	1
Giovani Bernard	91	337	3.7	2	1

Passing Leaders	Att	Comp	Yards	TDs	INT
Andy Dalton	563	364	4,206	18	15

Receiving Leaders	Rec	Yds	Avg	TDs
A.J. Green	66	984	14.6	4
Brandon LaFell	64	862	13.5	6
Tyler Boyd	54	603	11.2	1
Giovani Bernard	39	336	8.6	1
Tyler Eifert	29	394	13.6	5

Defensive Leaders	Tack	Sack	Fum	INTs
Vontaze Burfict	73	2.0	1	2
Karlos Dansby	69	1.0	0	0
Shawn Williams	59	1.0	1	3
Adam Jones	54	0	1	1
Vincent Rey	48	0	1	1
George Iloka	48	0	0	3
Dre Kirkpatrick	35	0	0	3
Carlos Dunlap	30	8.0	3	0
Geno Atkins	21	9.0	0	0

The following is an overview of the Bengals offseason thus far.

Departing Players

• Rex Burkhead
• Karlos Dansby
• Margus Hunt
• Rey Maualuga
• Domata Peko
• Andrew Whitworth
• Kevin Zeitler

The Bengals offensive line took a big blow with the loss of Whitworth (164 starts in 11 seasons) and Zeitler (71 starts in five seasons).

Dansby and Hunt are more depth losses than Domata Peko, who was a starter on the defensive line.

Rex Burkhead also leaves the Bengals searching for more blocking help. The fullback signed by the New England Patriots after shouldering more of the running back load when Giovani Bernard was hurt for six games.

Maualuga had long been a fixture with the Bengals at middle linebacker, but started to become an aging, expensive liability and was shown the door several weeks ago.

Re-signed Players

• Dre Kirkpatrick
• Brandon LaFell
• Eric Winston

The Bengals wisely re-signed one of their starting receivers, after feeling the loss of Mohamed Sanu and Marvin Jones a season earlier.

Dre Kirkpatrick teased leaving, even joining the Steelers, but came back to Cincy with a huge contract.

Winston’s deal was necessary, as the Bengals line will be reformed this offseason.

Arrivals

• Kevin Minter
• Andre Smith

As noted above with Winston, the Bengals aim to rebuild their offensive line with the signing of Smith, who left the team for one season to play in Minnesota (but would only start four games).

Minter easily fills any void Rey Maualuga would’ve left and then some: he appears to be an improvement at MLB for the Bengals.

Conclusion

Much like the Steelers, the Bengals didn’t make many splashes in free agency. With eleven picks in the upcoming NFL Draft, Cincinnati will likely focus on filling their roster there.

Their biggest needs appear to be a center to anchor the offensive line and an edge rusher. (Who doesn’t need pass rushers?)

The Bengals shored up, at least temporarily, their linebacker situation with the signing of Minter, but since he was only inked to a one-year deal, I could sense them making that area a focus in the draft as well as more offensive line depth.

I honestly believe the Bengals have hit their window, for now, like the Steelers had with an aging defense around five years ago. It will be interesting to see if they can rebuild on the fly like Pittsburgh did: with a 6-9-1 third-place finish in 2016, that process has already started out on the wrong foot.