Once again, the spotlight is on the defense, where the holes at defensive end and safety are most glaring. The Bengals realistically need to address all levels of the defense, but the free safety position hasn’t been settled since Jessie Bates left after the 2022 season, and the team loses four-time Pro Bowl defensive end Trey Hendrickson, who already has said goodbye to Cincinnati on social media.
If the Bengals are to learn from Seattle’s run to a Super Bowl championship in 2025, it has to start up front.
“Seattle did a nice job, and they had a very good front and they had a physical front and they had a wave of guys that kept coming through, and that’s something every team wants,” Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin said at the NFL Combine. “You ask anybody in my position with any of the other teams, they want that defensive line, they want the wave. And we would like to get to the point where we have a couple different groups we can deploy in there and keep them fresh and really get after the passer.”
Not only is Hendrickson set to become a free agent, but also the Bengals are potentially losing Joseph Ossai. Belief in 2023 first-round draft pick Myles Murphy and 2025 first-round pick Shemar Stewart won’t be enough.
Tobin said there is good pass-rushing talent expected to be available in free agency this year, but 31 other teams are hunting. Finding the right fit and being able to get a signing across the finish line are two different challenges.
“It’s a two-pronged approach,” Tobin said. “You want to be good on first and second down as well. And it’s not just who’s doing it, but what they’re doing. And we’re working on all those areas to get it fixed. But there are opportunities in every bucket of bringing players in. And we’re gonna look at all the buckets.”
Asked about the interior defensive line, both Tobin and coach Zac Taylor offered praise for the group, noting things like “cohesion” and the ability to improve. With veterans BJ Hill and TJ Slaton and 2024 draft picks Kris Jenkins and McKinnley Jackson returning, it might not be the top priority in free agency.
“I think the unit as a whole, you know, didn’t play well as a group as it should have, as it could, but I think that’s on those guys to take the teaching,” Tobin said. “We’re doing things differently there, and I think that they’re growing into those roles. I have a lot of regard for all of those guys, and I think they have roles going forward for us.”
The Bengals have tried addressing the safety position through the draft and free agency without any luck the past three years. Former first-round draft pick Dax Hill was the intended successor to Bates in 2023, but struggled in that role and now has settled in at cornerback. Free agent pickup Nick Scott replaced strong safety Vonn Bell in 2023 and lasted only a year.
Stone arrived from Baltimore at free safety in 2024 and took a pay cut to stick around last season, but didn’t improve in Al Golden’s system.
“It’s the who, the what, the fit, how they’re playing, what they’re asked to do, all those kinds of things have to come together and fit together,” Tobin said when asked what he’s learned from past free agent signings at safety. “And sometimes they might have had more success doing something different. I’m not going to say that anybody was the cause of our defensive fall this year. … The group has to play better as a whole. What we like in safeties is what everyone likes in safeties. You want guys who are instinctive, that see the big picture. They have to have speed to cover. ... They have to be a good open-field tackler.”
Tobin and Taylor both shared high hopes for Jordan Battle, who is entering his fourth season and coming off his first full season as a starter. A better fit next to him could help.
In the same way, adding a veteran presence at linebacker could help 2025 draft picks Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight make a jump in Year 2.
“I think we’re open to how it will fall,” Taylor said. “I’m excited about the development of those two guys (Knight and Carter). I think they got some experience that you can’t get from being on the sidelines. They’ve learned from that. They’ve got bright futures and now we’ll just see how it falls for the rest of the spring and see what the competition looks like come OTAs.”
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