Cincinnati Bengals wasted little time making one of the most predictable plays of their off-season before the opening of a free agency cutting off striker BJ Finney.
For those unfamiliar, Finney came from Seattle at the Carlos Dunlap store and did not see any notable time on the field.
A low-risk addition to discarding a deal, Finney’s cut frees $ 3.5 million in cap space. It made no sense to keep him at that number while the team prepared to redo the offensive line under the command of new (and returning) lineman Frank Pollack.
While Bengals has a lot of space for the lid, Finney is certainly just the first domino to fall in front of cuts. Firing Geno Atkins, for example, would free up $ 9.5 million. Cutting Bobby Hart, plus $ 5.8 million.
Finney’s move was by far the easiest to predict, probably the first, but certainly not the last, as the team is gearing up for another off-season major squad review.