The Bengals defense may have struggled in 2014, but their secondary was still among the NFL's best.
Led by a host of veteran defensive backs, Cincinnati finished 2014 ranked third in opposing QB rating while also intercepting the third-most passes (20) and allowing the third-fewest touchdowns (18). As good as the entire secondary was, it's not being paid that much as a whole in 2015.
Here's a salary breakdown in 2015 for the Bengals' secondary:
| POS. | BASE SALARY | SIGNING BONUS | ROSTER BONUS | WORKOUT BONUS | DEAD CAP | CAP HIT | |
| Leon Hall | CB | $7,700,000 | $1,800,000 | - | $100,000 | ($1,800,000) | $9,600,000 |
| Dre Kirkpatrick | CB | $782,931 | $1,177,818 | $782,931 | - | ($1,960,749) | $2,743,680 |
| Adam-Pacman Jones | CB | $1,550,000 | $250,000 | $250,000 | $100,000 | ($250,000) | $2,550,000 |
| Darqueze Dennard | CB | $782,678 | $1,030,708 | - | - | ($5,020,157) | $1,813,386 |
| Brandon Ghee | CB | $745,000 | - | - | - | - | $585,000 |
| Chris Lewis-Harris | CB | $585,000 | - | - | - | - | $585,000 |
| Josh Shaw | CB | $435,000 | $123,431 | - | - | ($493,724) | $558,431 |
| Troy Hill | CB | $435,000 | $1,833 | - | - | ($5,500) | $436,833 |
| Reggie Nelson | S | $4,100,000 | $625,000 | - | $50,000 | ($625,000) | $4,775,000 |
| George Iloka | S | $1,542,000 | $40,075 | - | - | ($40,075) | $1,582,075 |
| Shawn Williams | S | $600,000 | $138,986 | - | - | ($277,972) | $738,986 |
| Shiloh Keo | S | $745,000 | - | - | - | - | $585,000 |
| Derron Smith | S | $435,000 | $29,658 | - | - | ($118,632) | $464,658 |
| Floyd Raven | S | $435,000 | $1,833 | - | - | ($5,500) | $436,833 |
| Erick Dargan | S | $435,000 | $166 | - | - | ($500) | $435,166 |
In all, the Bengals secondary will be just the 14th highest-paid unit among the NFL in 2015.