Free agents on defense and luck with Joe Burrow, plus which teams could copy

If you’re thinking about how the teams in Super Bowl LVI were built, you probably don’t need to know much about one side of the matchup. The Los Angeles Rams are probably the league’s most uniquely built team, having repeatedly traded away first-round picks to acquire young stars. The Rams don’t hate draft picks as much as some might suggest — they’re actually quite fond of racking up compensatory selections — but their roster-building philosophy and the path they took to get here is no secret.

The Cincinnati Bengals are slightly less obscure, but in their own way, coach Zac Taylor’s team is just as unique. His first year in Cincinnati in 2019 was basically a write-off as the team transitioned from the Marvin Lewis era, but the Bengals have had a clear roster construction model over the past two offseasons. I don’t think anybody expected that path to lead to a Super Bowl just one year removed from a 4-11-1 season, but football teams move faster than we think.

Let’s break down what the Bengals did to go from 2-14 to AFC champions in two offseasons. I’ll also try to identify which teams might be in position to emulate their philosophy this spring, even if a trip to the Super Bowl might not be in their cards. Here’s how the Bengals were built:

Jump to: Which teams could be next

The holdovers

Players (8): S Jessie Bates III, WR Tyler Boyd, OL Trey Hopkins, EDGE Sam Hubbard, P Kevin Huber, RB Joe Mixon, DT Josh Tupou, TE C.J. Uzomah