Whether it’s overthinking or underbaking talent evaluation, ownership’s parsimonious nature, or a blend of all of the above, the Cincinnati Bengals sideline themselves far too often once NFL free agency hits.
Salary cap gymnastics are not a thing in Cincinnati for the most part. Maximizing resources? Huh? What even is that?
Not advocating for the Bengals to kick off every offseason in the red, but teams who do that like the New Orleans Saints still manage to maneuver their way out of trouble every single year. The Saints haven’t even been good for a while. At least they’re trying.
That’s all Joe Burrow wants to see. Effort. So rather than trying to find diamonds in the rough, or claim to have some superior knowledge to every other front office in the league, the Bengals can simply target players who are playing on Championship Sunday.
Seems easy enough, no? Target proven, quality players who are balling out for the NFL’s Final Four. Whether they shine on Sunday or not, they must be considered going forward.
I’ve written plenty about Denver Broncos defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers and how much I want him to be a Bengal. Consider him a bonus. Read about him at the link below. Enjoy this piece, too.
Read More: Ranking Bengals’ most pressing offseason needs & how best to fill them
2 Seahawks & 3 safeties headline Bengals’ free-agent targets from Championship Sunday
Coby Bryant, S, Seattle Seahawks
Count on the Bengals to not shell out top-market money to fill one of their biggest needs of the offseason.
What do I mean by this? Kansas City Chiefs safety, Cincinnati native and former Cincinnati Bearcat Bryan Cook is hitting the open market. Spotrac projects him to have the biggest payday among safeties at an average annual value (AAV) of over $14 million.
Cleveland native Coby Bryant, who was Cook’s college teammate, fortuitously avoided his hometown Browns once he hit the NFL, landing instead with the Seattle Seahawks. A conversion from cornerback to safety proved fruitful, and now he’s in line to be one of the highest-paid at the position.
Seattle has a lot of pending free agents on defense. Can only sign so many. Bryant will price himself out of the Emerald City. All the Bengals need to do is bid big enough.
Although his tackling slipped a bit in 2025, Bryant is usually reliable there and is solid in coverage. Over the last two seasons, he’s allowed only three TDs against seven INTs and a passer rating of 78.2.
Anyone who can excel in Mike Macdonald’s complex defense should be welcomed with open arms to Cincinnati. This would be a homecoming of sorts for Bryant where he could take on a greater leadership role, bring a Super Bowl-caliber culture to the building, and upgrade a key area of the Bengals’ oft-wayward defense.
Jaylinn Hawkins, S, New England Patriots
Speaking of culture/tone-setters, New England’s Jaylinn Hawkins isn’t too dissimilar to Bryant. At least, in the sense that Hawkins, too, had some early-career adversity to get through, and his best football could still be ahead of him.
The Atlanta Falcons waived Hawkins during his fourth season in 2023, as he’d not had much success to that point. He landed with the Chargers the rest of that year before signing with the Patriots in March 2024.
After starting last season during the awful one-and-done Jerod Mayo debacle, Hawkins held his spot when Mike Vrabel came in, finally coming into his own as a high-end starter.
Hawkins graded out as PFF’s seventh-best safety this season. Eighth in coverage. Third in run defense. The man is playing lights-out. His passer rating allowed is just 73.7, and his missed tackle rate of 11.4% in 2025 is far better than the man he’d be replacing in Cincy, Geno Stone (18.3% career MTR).
With a cap hit of just $1.8 million, Hawkins is about to get paid something like five times that amount in AAV on his next contract. The question is, will the Pats retain him, or can the Bengals get bold enough to score a key pillar for their secondary?
Boye Mafe, EDGE, Seattle Seahawks
OK I know I said before that the Bengals shouldn’t mess with “diamonds in the rough” or overthink free agency. When it comes to Boye Maye, though, there’s more than meets the eye with him if you just box score scouted his 2025 campaign.
Mafe only had two sacks in the regular season. But when you think about how Macdonald deploys his multifaceted defense, and how deep the Seahawks go on their front seven, it’s not some scathing indictment on Mafe’s abilities.
Whatever your feelings are about PFF grades, at least follow me here when looking at Seattle’s snap counts and alignments. Ready? Proof that Macdonald is a mad scientist.
The Seahawks aligned Mafe exclusively on the edge, outside the tackle for his 555 snaps prior to the playoffs. Not only is Seattle very deep at Mafe’s position, but Macdonald likes to align multiple other players at other positions right where Mafe goes.
Reserve d-lineman Mike Morris logged 81 snaps when aligned outside the tackle. Drake Thomas, a 223-pound linebacker, was there on 73 snaps. Rookie nickelback Nick Emmanwori put in 88 reps at that spot.
Mind you, that’s before we’ve touched on the outside-tackle snap counts of Uchenna Nwosu (575), DeMarcus Lawrence (515), Derick Hall (398), and even Leonard Williams (95).
If anything, this bodes well for Mafe’s next team, provided he leaves the Seahawks. His body isn’t as battered. He has legit pass rush production in the NFL. In 2023, he logged six pass deflections, nine sacks, and 58 pressures in 16 games. The next year was six sacks and 47 pressures on 98 fewer pass rush snaps.
In addition to his obvious skill of wreaking havoc on the opposing quarterback, Mafe has always been a plus run defender. He could waltz into Cincinnati, start right away, and have a career season. I’m telling y’all, this could be a slightly lesser, second coming of Trey Hendrickson type of signing.
Kamren Curl, S, Los Angeles Rams
Ah yes. Another safety. You know, it wouldn’t be the worst thing to see the Bengals double-dip in free agency and the draft. Not convinced Jordan Battle is some lock starter for the foreseeable future, despite how encouraging his 2025 season was at times.
Kamren Curl is a key leader in the Rams’ defensive backfield. A past seventh-round pick for the Washington franchise who had to grind his way to the top of the depth chart.
What I love most about Curl is his status as PFF’s No. 1 safety in run defense. He was tied for fifth in the entire league with 79 solo tackles among his 122 total stops, missing on only 8.5% of his tackle attempts. Dude is just everywhere.
Someone who’s that good doesn’t often wriggle away from his current team. The Rams don’t have many other free agents who I’d consider “must-keep” status. Curl has to be their No. 1 priority.
Thus, I’ll keep it briefer on Curl. He’s more of an aspirational target than one the Bengals could realistically lure away from LA, short of a mind-blowing, out-of-character offer.
Quick Bengals free agency predictions among Championship Sunday targets & 2-round mock draft to fix the defense
Here’s the dream scenario: Sign Coby Bryant (3-year, $45 million deal), Boye Mafe (3-year, $36 million deal), and John Franklin-Myers (3-year, $33 million deal). Then, a three-round mock draft as follows:
- Round 1, Pick 10 — Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State
- Round 2, Pick 41 — Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, S, Toledo
Yeaaaaah more Ohio guys to finish it off! Boom done fixed and free of charge, Duke Tobin.
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