Ahead of the start of free agency, Insider is providing buyer's guides for all 32 teams: biggest need positions from Football Outsiders, top targets from KC Joyner and Matt Williamson and predictions on how everything will play out from our NFL Nation team reporters.
Included below are links to every team's article. This is the entry for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Biggest needs
Defensive end: Cincinnati ended 2014 with losses in Pittsburgh and Indianapolis, where the defense with its league-low 20 sacks failed to generate pressure on the quarterback. The defense has to find an edge rusher to pair up with Carlos Dunlap and complement Geno Atkins in the middle. Dunlap and Atkins produced 45.3 percent of the defense's quarterback hits (including sacks) in 2014. The linebackers should be healthier and the defense has already used premium resources on cornerbacks in the draft -- both Dre Kirkpatrick (2012) and Darqueze Dennard (2014) were first-round picks. The pass rush is where this team has skimped in recent years, missing on veteran signing James Harrison and losing Michael Johnson to Tampa Bay.