Bengals Rumors

Bengals To Host OT Mekhi Becton

March 13th, 2024 at 11:01pm CST by Ben Levine

As the Bengals seek a replacement for Jonah Williams on the offensive line, they’ll be hosting one of the more intriguing tackle options on the market. Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that free agent OT Mekhi Becton is scheduled to meet with the Bengals tomorrow.

The former-first round pick disappointed during his stint with the Jets, although injuries obviously played a major factor. A knee injury limited him to only a single game in 2021, and a fractured kneecap wiped out his entire 2022 campaign.

To Becton’s credit, he managed to return for 16 starts this past season, providing the snakebitten Jets offense with a bit of consistency. While the health was an encouraging development, Pro Football Focus only ranked Becton 66th among 81 qualifying offensive tackles in 2023.

As a result, it was believed that the injury-prone lineman would have to settle for a one-year deal during his first trip to free agency. Considering his age (24) and draft pedigree, Becton was expected to still command some attention as a free agent, although his injury and weight-related issues would surely cause some organizations to be wary. Regardless, Becton wasn’t expected to re-sign with the Jets.

The Titans and Falcons were previously mentioned as potential suitors, and the Bengals are now among the teams considering the reclamation project. Per ESPN’s Rich Cimini, a “handul of other teams” have interest in Becton, and Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 reported that Becton had two more visits lined up after his summit with the Bengals.

Williams served as Cincinnati’s starting right tackle this past season, but it shouldn’t have come as a complete surprise to the organization that he’d look to play elsewhere. After all, the Bengals opted to pay Orlando Brown Jr. last offseason and shift Williams away from LT, leading to a trade request.

The Bengals can count on Brown at left tackle in 2024, but they’ll need to figure out their right tackle situation. The team’s currently options for the position include former fourth-round pick D’Ante Smith and former second-rounder Jackson Carman.

Bengals Agree To Deal With DT Sheldon Rankins

March 13th, 2024 at 7:10pm CST by Ben Levine

The Bengals are set to add some reinforcement on their defensive line. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the team is closing in on an agreement with free agent defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins. The agreement is expected to be finalized tonight. Indeed, a two-year deal is now in place which will pay Rankins $26MM, per Mike Garafolo of NFL Network.

Following a two-year stint with the Jets, Rankins inked a one-year, $10.5MM deal with the Texans last offseason. He ended up starting all 15 of his appearances for Houston, finishing with 37 tackles, one forced fumble, and six sacks, with that latter stat marking his highest total since the 2018 campaign. Even with that newfound pass-rush ability, Rankins only ranked 51st on Pro Football Focus’ positional rankings.

The former first-round pick brings plenty of experience to Cincinnati. Rankins has appeared in 109 games with the Saints, Jets, and Texans, compiling 228 tackles and 29.5 sacks. After serving as a rotational piece during his final seasons in New Orleans and first year in New York, Rankins has emerged as a starter in recent years.

The Bengals have been in the market for some “firepower up front,” according to Fowler. The organization does still possess some depth at DT; B.J. Hill has started 33 games over the past two seasons, while Zach Carter has been a worthy injury fill-in with 14 starts in 33 games.

Still, the Bengals are assuring they have a full depth chart up front, and despite adding Rankins to the mix, the front office may not be done. Fowler adds that the Bengals are also still interested in retaining D.J. Reader, although the free agent defensive tackle is currently on his way to Detroit to meet with the Lions.

Bengals Release S Nick Scott

March 13th, 2024 at 1:18pm CST by Adam La Rose

Having made a notable addition on the backend by agreeing to a deal with Geno Stone, the Bengals will remove a recent arrival from the equation. Cincinnati plans to release safety Nick Scott, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. The move is now official, per a team announcement.

Scott spent the course of his rookie contract with the Rams, a tenure which concluded with the team’s Super Bowl win over the Bengals. That landed him a three-year, $12MM agreement with Cincinnati last offseason. After just one year in the Queen City, however, the 28-year-old will once again hit the open market.

Scott is due $3.3MM in 2024, with a cap hit $1MM higher. Cutting him immediately would result in $2.3MM in cap savings against a dead money charge of $2MM. Designating him a post-June 1 release would shift $1MM from dead money to cap space, but the Bengals would not see the savings until June 2. In any event, Stone’s arrival suggested Scott could be on the way out this offseason.

The latter started 10 games in 2023, but by November he had lost his first-team spot to Jordan Battle. Scott racked up 57 tackles and a fumble recovery, but he surrendered a passer rating of 99.6 in coverage. Breakdowns in the secondary were a common issue for Cincinnati last year, something which influenced the decision to bring in Stone at the outset of the negotiating window. The former Ravens draftee secured $15MM on a two-year deal.

Battle is still on his rookie contract for three more seasons, and he and Stone could serve as full-time starters in 2024. Former first-rounder Dax Hill is also in the fold, although questions have been raised about where he best fits in the secondary. Cincinnati will have decisions to make in the latter’s case moving forward, while Scott will become a late entrant to a crowded free agent safety class.

DT D.J. Reader To Meet With Lions

March 12th, 2024 at 10:09pm CST by Ben Levine

After missing the end of the 2023 season with a quad injury. D.J. Reader is starting to generate some interest in free agency. The veteran defensive tackle will be meeting with the Lions on Thursday, according to Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz.

Reader was completing a four-year, $53MM last season and appeared to be setting himself up nicely for his impending free agency. Through 14 games, the 29-year-old compiled 34 tackles and one sack while grading as Pro Football Focus’ 11th-best interior defender (among 130 qualifiers). However, a torn quad ended his season prematurely and put his free agency prospects in doubt.

The veteran tore his other quad in 2020, and while he managed to get into 15 games the following season, he was limited to only 10 contests in 2022. Injuries are now built into the defensive tackle’s profile, so Reader may be hard pressed to earn a long-term commitment.

Still, Reader would be a fit for a Lions squad that was reportedly in the market for help on the defensive line. Former third-round pick Alim McNeill has solidified himself as a starting nose tackle, but 36-year-old Tyson Alualu is currently penciled in next to him at defensive tackle. Reader would provide a high-upside option next to McNeill; even with the injuries, Reader hasn’t ranked lower than 12th on PFF’s positional rankings since 2019.

Thanks to that production, the Bengals are also hoping to retain the defensive lineman. According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, the Bengals want to re-sign Reader, but the DT is expected to explore his options in free agency with a “few” suitors looming.

Broncos To Add DT Malcolm Roach

March 12th, 2024 at 12:08pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Saints-Broncos pipeline remains active, as Sean Payton prepares for his second season in Denver. The longtime New Orleans HC will bring in one of his former defensive linemen.

Malcolm Roach is heading to Denver on a two-year deal worth up to $8MM, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets. The Broncos have two eight-figure-per-year contracts on their defensive line, but the team has some depth questions behind the Zach Allen–D.J. Jones duo. Chris Tomasson of the Denver Gazette notes Roach drew interest from the Rams, Cardinals, Bills and Bengals. Instead, he will continue playing under Payton.

Roach’s Saints role did not change much during his four-season Louisiana run. Starting five games in that time, Roach worked primarily as a rotational defensive lineman. Payton was in place when the Saints signed Roach as a UDFA; the Texas alum has only played for the Saints. Roach will join ex-college teammates Caden Sterns, P.J. Locke and Brandon Jones on Denver’s defense, with Payton also obviously being a familiar face.

Pro Football Focus viewed Roach as a lower-end D-tackle from 2020-22 but viewed him as an improved product last year, slotting the four-year veteran just outside the top 25 among interior D-linemen. Roach, 25, totaled a career-high 38 tackles (three for loss) last season while batting down three passes. Roach stands to help the Broncos in run defense, having logged those numbers last season despite missing five games. While skewed by a brutal start, the Broncos’ defense ranked 30th against the run last year.

Roach will join a Broncos team that saw 2022 starter Jonathan Harris hit free agency. Denver has Matt Henningsen still under contract, though 2022 fourth-rounder Eyioma Uwazurike‘s NFL future is in doubt after the gambling suspension he received last summer.

Bengals To Trade RB Joe Mixon To Texans

March 12th, 2024 at 10:26am CST by Sam Robinson

Joe Mixon‘s time with the Bengals is indeed over, but he will not reach free agency. Rather than releasing the veteran back, Cincinnati is instead trading him to the Texans, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

Monday night’s Bengals release indication now doubles as a last-call warning for teams, and the Texans will take a chance via trade. Houston lost its primary 2023 starter — Devin Singletary — after the 5-foot-7 back rejoined Brian Daboll in New York. Mixon will have an opportunity to play in Bobby Slowik‘s offense, joining 2022 fourth-round pick Dameon Pierce.

It will cost the Texans only a seventh-round pick to obtain Mixon, Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz tweets. Considering the Bengals were prepared to cut him, this return is not especially surprising.

This puts the Texans in position to pay the seven-year Bengals starter his $3MM roster bonus, which is due Saturday. The Bengals were rumored to be cutting bait after one season of Mixon’s reworked deal. The sides reached a resolution to keep Mixon in Cincinnati last summer, with his four-year, $48MM 2020 extension morphing into a two-year, $11.5MM pact. Although Mixon scored 12 touchdowns and finished with his fourth 1,000-yard season, he has now surpassed 1,500 career carries. The Bengals added a younger option — Zack Moss — to work with Chase Brown.

It is interesting to see the Texans pass on a player who produced in their system (Singletary) for an older option with considerably more tread on his tires. While Mixon will not turn 28 until later this year, he has amassed 1,571 career carries. That surpasses any back who changed teams during Monday’s historic player-movement day at the position.

In better cap shape compared to the Bengals, the Texans will owe Mixon only a $2.2MM base salary next season. The third-leading rusher in Bengals history, Mixon has four seasons with at least 1,400 scrimmage yards. The Bengals needed Mixon last season after letting Samaje Perine walk in free agency. But Brown and Moss are now in place to split up the workload — at a reduced rate — for a team whose roster now includes Joe Burrow‘s record-setting extension. The Texans, with C.J. Stroud, on a rookie deal will add Mixon as a rental of sorts.

Bengals To Sign TE Mike Gesicki

March 12th, 2024 at 10:10am CST by Sam Robinson

Cincinnati retained tight end Drew Sample on Monday, and the team is now set to make an outside addition at the position. The Bengals have agreed to a one-year deal worth up to $3.25MM with Mike Gesicki, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.

Despite a down year on the franchise tag in 2022 and being trapped in a mess of a Patriots offense last season, Gesicki is not too far removed from quality production in Miami. His 2020 and ’21 seasons prompted the Dolphins to apply the tag; the Bengals will make a low-risk bet on upside to accompany the Sample deal.

More of a slot player than a multipurpose tight end, Gesicki surpassed 700 receiving yards during Tua Tagovailoa‘s first two seasons. Gesicki’s presence during inconsistent Tagovailoa seasons helped influence Mike McDaniel‘s regime to unholster the tag in 2022, and while the Penn State alum did not prove a fit in the 49ers-derived scheme, he has shown quality form — his post-TD Griddy work aside — in the recent past.

Gesicki caught six touchdown passes in 2020 and added a career-high 780 receiving yards the following season. Over the past two years, the former second-round pick has combined for 606 yards. Hence this low-level agreement. Gesicki also did not find much of a market last year, settling for $4.5MM from the Patriots. Dalton Schultz, Hunter Henry and Noah Fant fared much better than he did this offseason, suggesting some pessimism on the receiving-oriented TE. The Bengals do offer some hope at a value-reestablishing season.

Barring another addition, Cincinnati will have Gesicki in place as its top receiving tight end. The Bengals have not received Gesicki-level production from a pass-catching tight end since Tyler Eifert‘s non-injury-marred work several years ago, despite the team taking fliers on Hayden Hurst and Irv Smith Jr. following C.J. Uzomah‘s 2022 Jets signing. Uzomah and Hurst are still available, making reunions something to monitor. For now, Cincy is going with a Gesicki-Sample duo.

Bengals To Cut Joe Mixon, Sign Zack Moss

March 11th, 2024 at 9:10pm CST by Sam Robinson

Joe Mixon will not be on the Bengals’ roster when a bonus vests later this week. The Bengals are moving on from their seven-year starting running back, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo report.

This was a rumored scenario in Cincinnati, with Mixon agreeing to a reworked contract last summer. Cincy is also bringing in a replacement. Zack Moss will be the latest 2023 RB starter to change teams, with ESPN’s Adam Schefter reporting the recent Colt will sign a two-year deal to join the Bengals. Moss will head for the AFC North on a two-year, $8MM pact. The Bengals will save $6.1MM by releasing Mixon, who was due a $3MM bonus Saturday.

Mixon came with considerable controversy when the Bengals drafted him — due to a video catching him striking a woman while at Oklahoma, leading to a team-imposed suspension — and a 2023 arrest became a headache for the team. (Mixon was found not guilty on an aggravated menacing charge in August.)

The 27-year-old back has operated as a fixture in Cincinnati’s offense dating back to the Marvin Lewis–Andy Dalton era. But last year’s contract redo — a two-year, $11.5MM pact that significantly reduced Mixon’s pay, after he had signed a four-year, $48MM deal in 2020 — displayed some wall writing for the Bengals, whose roster blueprint is different with Joe Burrow on an NFL-record extension.

The Bengals still leaned on Mixon in 2023, having lost Samaje Perine to the Broncos in free agency. Mixon churned out his fourth 1,000-yard season. In addition to clearing that barrier, Mixon crossed 1,400 scrimmage yards (1,410) for the fourth time. He added 12 touchdowns in what amounted to a lost season due to Burrow’s injury. As the musical chairs spin at this position, Mixon is much shorter on options than he was coming into Monday.

Mixon stood 35 yards away from James Brooks for second in Bengals rushing annals, and while he should have an opportunity in 2024, Cincinnati is moving on. The team will turn to Moss, who is going into his age-26 season. Moss impressed as the Colts’ Jonathan Taylor fill-in last season and will collect a bit of guaranteed money from his new team. The ex-Bills second-rounder will collect $4.5MM in the first year of this Bengals contract. Moss tallied 794 rushing yards and five touchdowns as a Colt last season, adding two receiving scores.

One of the teams to lose a running back today, the Cowboys were also in the mix for Moss. Dallas was not quite willing to go where Cincinnati was, per the Dallas Morning News’ Michael Gehlken. Whereas Mixon has 1,571 carries on his odometer — more than any back to change teams today — Moss is at just 484. At a position where mileage matters most, the Bengals are rebooting. Moss will join Chase Brown and the recently re-signed Trayveon Williams in Cincinnati’s backfield.

Thus far Monday, 12 teams changed starting running backs. A few clubs still have needs, and Mixon will join Aaron Jones — also released today — and Derrick Henry as big names in search of a new opportunity.

Bengals, S Geno Stone Agree To Deal

March 11th, 2024 at 3:37pm CST by Adam La Rose

On the lookout for a safety addition, Cincinnati is set to add a new potential starter from a division rival. Geno Stone has agreed to a deal with the Bengals, as first reported by Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz. Stone will receive $15MM on a two-year deal, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network adds.

Stone has been a division rival of the Bengals in Baltimore for almost all of his career, minus a short two-and-a-half-month period in his rookie year that he spent on the Texans’ roster. After being drafted in the seventh round out of Iowa, Stone’s entire tenure as a Raven was in a backup capacity. He sat behind eventual free agent departures Chuck Clark and DeShon Elliott, as well as versatile defensive back Brandon Stephens, before the eventual arrivals of Marcus Williams and Kyle Hamilton.

Injuries to Williams in 2022 and 2023, as well as the need to move Stephens back to cornerback for depth purposes, finally afforded Stone a chance to start. He took that chance and shined. With seven starts in 2022, Stone graded out as the league’s 28th best safety out of 88 graded players, according to Pro Football Focus. He earned more starts as an injury replacement for Williams this year and played so well that Baltimore often found themselves fielding three safeties, all in versatile roles. With his opportunities this year, Stone graded out well again as he battled DaRon Bland for the interception title with seven picks of his own.

The Ravens will be sad to watch Stone go, but they are set up well at the safety position with Willams and Hamilton both under contract through the 2026 season. They may need to add some depth at the position with such a valuable piece as Stone headed across the division, but it likely won’t be high on the priority list, perhaps necessitating a late-round pick.

In Cincinnati, Stone arrives to a bit of a muddier situation. For much of the year, the Bengals fielded Daxton Hill and Nick Scott as their starting safeties. PFF would grade both players extremely poorly with Hill ranking 90th and Scott landing dead last at 95th. Third-round rookie Jordan Battle would eventually step in for Scott as a starter next to Hill, and in a small sample size, Battle graded out much better as the league’s eighth-best safety, according to PFF.

Hill and Battle may be the incumbent starters, with lots of time left on their rookie contracts. Even Scott is under contract for the next two years, but Stone provides a new, intriguing option. If Hill continues to struggle, the Bengals now have a ball-hawking safety in Stone who plays far too hard to be kept off the field. Stone may even push for starting time to begin the year. If Scott or Hill show improvement, Stone gives Cincinnati the option of running three-safety sets, just like their rivals did with Stone last season.

Ely Allen contributed to this post.

Bengals Re-Sign TE Drew Sample

March 11th, 2024 at 12:09pm CST by Adam La Rose

The tight end spot has been the source of speculation with respect to the Bengals. An addition could still be coming, but an in-house contributor will remain in place. The team announced on Monday that Drew Sample re-signed on a three-year deal.

After playing out a one-year contract in 2023, Sample will be tied to a $10.5MM accord (per NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero). The Bengals will probably still be on the hunt for a pass-catching option at tight end, but they have one piece of the puzzle solved.

Sample has been with the Bengals since they chose him in the 2019 second round. Cincinnati drew some scrutiny for making that pick, as Sample did not have an extensive pass-catching history at Washington. That has continued in Ohio, though Sample has been a key presence in the Bengals’ run game.

The 6-foot-4 tight end has only topped 175 receiving yards in one season — back in 2020. Pro Football Focus graded Sample as a top-15 run-blocking tight end last season, which came after he re-signed on a one-year deal worth just $1.23MM. The Bengals saw enough from the 27-year-old tight end to make a bigger investment this time, though the guarantees will tell the tale.

Cincinnati let C.J. Uzomah walk in 2022 and Hayden Hurst leave for Carolina in 2023; both players are back on the market, bringing an interesting opportunity for the team. Hunter Henry and Dalton Schultz re-signed before free agency, thinning out the TE market.

Load More Posts