{"id":41896,"date":"2026-01-18T11:29:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T11:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41896"},"modified":"2026-01-18T11:29:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T11:29:08","slug":"cincinnati-bengals-this-is-home-joseph-ossai-unfazed-by-free-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41896","title":{"rendered":"Cincinnati Bengals: \u2018This is home\u2019 \u2014 Joseph Ossai unfazed by free agency"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"Cincinnati<\/p>\n

\u201cI can see that, but no, not at all, especially since I\u2019m a big believer in God,\u201d Ossai said. \u201cNo, nothing, no need to be nervous, no need to be anxious. His plan is His plan, so at the end of the day, I will have a job next year. That\u2019s all I care about, man. Put the ball down, let\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n

ExploreCincinnati Bengals: Duke Tobin owns team\u2019s failures, offers few answers<\/section>\n

Ossai said he would love to return, and he\u2019s \u201csure it\u2019ll work out,\u201d but he will let his agent and the organization take care of the business side, and wherever he lands, he\u2019s ready to get to work.<\/p>\n

Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin said improving the pass rush is a big priority this offseason; however, it\u2019s unclear yet whether Ossai fits into that plan. Ossai hopes so, because \u201cthis is home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know about fit, and I can\u2019t speak to all that, but all I know is I love the guys in this locker room, and I love playing for (defensive coordinator) Al (Golden) and I love playing for (head coach) Zac (Taylor), and I love playing for J Mo (defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery),\u201d Ossai said. \u201cSo, I think based off that, I would want to come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bengals gave Ossai another chance to prove himself this past season after he recorded five sacks in the final seven games of 2024. He had mainly filled a rotational role his first three years on the field, after missing his rookie year due to a preseason knee injury, but after the departure of Sam Hubbard, Ossai finally had a chance to establish himself in a starting job.<\/p>\n

When Trey Hendrickson suffered a hip and pelvis injury and was shelved for the remainder in Week 8, Ossai had an even greater opportunity to show himself in what he said is his most natural spot on the right side.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was great,\u201d Ossai said. \u201cI favor that side a bit, but I\u2019m not going to speak to it \u2018unlocking this and that,\u2019 because that brings up the fact that he wasn\u2019t there and I don\u2019t like to talk about that, but it was great to be over there predominantly, I would say.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hendrickson also is set to head into free agency after being unable to come to an agreement with the Bengals this past year on an extension. It\u2019s possible Cincinnati could use the franchise tag on him, but after he held out of offseason workouts and training camp before finally agreeing to a raise for 2025, it might be best for all parties to move on.<\/p>\n

Ossai said Hendrickson\u2019s absence made a huge impact on the defense, though he was proud of how others stepped up to try to fill the void. Myles Murphy, for example, went from zero sacks in 2024 to a team-high 5.5 sacks in 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is tough when you lose a guy like that and the impact he makes and the impact he has on a defense, any defense, it\u2019s tough,\u201d Ossai said. \u201cBut I think we did a good job of rallying as a D-line and playing with each other and leaning on each other in hopes of filling that hole. But anyone who\u2019s played against him or played with him knows it\u2019s a massive hole that\u2019s gone in a defense when he\u2019s not on it. So I think I\u2019m giving props to the whole D-line for rallying around each other and leaning on each other and trying to be impactful still without him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ossai had just 4.5 sacks combined in 2022 and 2023, before back-to-back seasons with 5.0 sacks. He produced 12 more pressures this season than last in three fewer games.<\/p>\n

That wasn\u2019t just the result of more opportunity, Ossai said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of variables,\u201d Ossai said. \u201cI\u2019d say coaching, J Mo, me being more comfortable in the role I was playing and more confident in the role I was playing. Year 5, going in and just being asked to do different things, as in, be a leader for the team. So, a bunch of different things, and there\u2019s no way to pinpoint which one it was that really got me there, but all those things I would say are the reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

ExploreCincinnati Bengals: Will Joe Flacco wait for one last shot to start?<\/section>\n

Ossai potentially put himself in position to earn a big payday with his next contract. That could be another factor in whether the Bengals bring him back, but Ossai downplayed the money side of the negotiating process.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I did all right for myself,\u201d Ossai said. \u201cI\u2019m very critical of myself, so there\u2019s definitely a lot more that I wanted to do, a lot more I could have done. Easier said than done, obviously, but that will happen. Whatever it is, like I said, I\u2019m lucky that we get paid so much to do what we do. This is fun for me. This is what I dream about. This is what it\u2019s about when we\u2019re in offseason, when we\u2019re not playing for so long, so whatever, if they give me five bucks, I\u2019m good. You know what I\u2019m saying? \u2026 I\u2019ll get a little more than that, but whatever they give me, I\u2019m happy with, so we\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Joseph Ossai went through free agency last offseason and ended up signing a one-year deal to return to the Cincinnati Bengals. He doesn\u2019t know what the future holds now, but he\u2019s confident he doesn\u2019t need to worry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41897,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cincinnati-bengals"],"yoast_head":"\nCincinnati Bengals: \u2018This is home\u2019 \u2014 Joseph Ossai unfazed by free agency - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41896\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cincinnati Bengals: \u2018This is home\u2019 \u2014 Joseph Ossai unfazed by free agency - Breaking News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Joseph Ossai went through free agency last offseason and ended up signing a one-year deal to return to the Cincinnati Bengals. 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