The veteran playmaker for the Cincinnati Bengals needs to be re-signed.
With all of the uncertainty surrounding the off-season, Cincinnati needs to take one action: Tyler Boyd should be resigned. There are plenty of big decisions that are going to have to be made in Cincinnati. The wide receiver room has the opportunity to stay the same for another year or end up incredibly different. Ja’Marr Chase will get his money, Tee Higgins will likely be tagged, but the third member of the trio has gone under the radar when it comes to re-signing conversations.
The Cincinnati Bengals should bring back Tyler Boyd. The Bengals Should Bring Back Tyler Boyd in 2024 Unquestioned Leader Few players have embodied what it means to be a Cincinnati Bengal than Boyd over the last eight years. Boyd was drafted in the second round out of Pitt in the 2016 NFL Draft and hasn’t taken a single play off during that entire period. Playing alongside all-time Bengals greats like A.J. Green, Tee Higgins, and Ja’Marr Chase, he has shown leadership in the receiver room.
Boyd endured some of the worst seasons the Bengals have had since the start of the Marvin Lewis era. The Bengals were about as uninspired as they could be, going 19-28-1 in his first three years in Cincinnati. But the team signed him to a $43 million, four-year extension this year because they understood how important he was. When Zac Taylor arrived that same year, he made sure that Green was facing his best receiver. In retrospect, Green’s performance declined since he missed the entire 2019 campaign. 2019 would have been even worse without Boyd than
Boyd advanced as a leader during that season. He is frequently quoted as saying that he detests losing, so when the Bengals lost every week, he had to support not just his teammates but also himself. Then, he was suddenly the grizzled veteran as the Bengals acquired two young, explosive WR1-type players in Higgins and Chase.
Even though Charlie Jones was selected as the likely replacement, it would be beneficial to retain Boyd in the receiving room. Boyd needs to be extended regardless of whether Higgins is a part of the Bengals in 2024. If Higgins is no longer with us? It would carry even more significance.
Boyd’s drops have generated a lot of discussion during the past two years. Before Week 18, in 2023, Boyd had dropped five passes. A year ago, he made three drops. Boyd has had 20 drops in total since 2018. Compare that to his 638 targets in that same time frame, and it may seem like a lot. His rate of decline is 3.1%. While 2023 is tied for Boyd’s worst season in terms of drops in 2018, he is far behind Tyreek Hill David Njoku and Puka Nacua the league leaders.
On Boyd, the magnifying glass was focused during Super Bowl LVI. With 6:20 remaining in the game, the Bengals held a slim 20-16 lead going into third-and-nine. Joe Burrow attempted a pass.
Boyd might have abandoned the play. The Bengals lost and secured the first overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, so the game was essentially meaningless. His efforts were in vain, and he suffered an unnecessary injury. Still, he led by example and continued to fight.
The likelihood that the Week 18 game will be his last in Cincinnati is extremely high. And whichever team signs him—assuming it’s not the Bengals—will have a superior leader and a fantastic slot receiver. But Cincinnati needs to make every effort to ensure Tyler Boyd stays a Bengal for the foreseeable future.
