The Bengals have always been cheap, but you can trace their worst instance of frugality to less than two years ago when left tackle Andrew Whitworth was up for a new contract.
The then-35-year old lineman was going into his 12th year in the NFL and by all means was still playing at a high level. The season before in 2015, Whitworth agreed to a one-year contract extension that ended up paying him $9 million for the 2016 season. That season wasn’t a success by any means after they concluded the year with just six wins, but Whitworth was far from the problem.