CINCINNATI – The Cincinnati Bengals filled one of their two biggest holes eight days into free agency with the signing of offensive tackle Trent Brown.
But the other gaping chasm remains unaddressed as Day 9 winds to a close.
And no matter what the Bengals to do address it moving forward, it’s likely to feel like a huge missed opportunity.
Think of last year’s tight end situation times 10.
Bengals Still Without a Run-Stopping DT
The Bengals knew bringing DJ Reader back at nose tackle was going to be a long shot. All it was going to take was one team to bank on Reader’s recovery before it was complete, and that would be that.
The Detroit Lions were that team, offering Reader what essentially is a two-year, $22 million contract, which was far above the range the Cincinnati front office was discussing.
So here the Bengals sit with no true run stuffer less than three months after a season in which they got gashed on the ground by AFC North opponents, leading to a 1-5 record in the division and a postseason on the couch.
Yes, there still are several quality free agents available.
No, none of them are defensive tackles who specialize in stopping the run.
And no, the draft is not full of them. There’s one quality nose tackle — Texas’ T’Vondre Sweat. He could be a reach for the Bengals at No. 18, and he could be long gone by the time they pick again at No. 49.
Add Cincinnati Bengals HC Zac Taylor to the list of NFL head coaches in attendance at the Texas Pro Day. https://t.co/QjwSlD9BjY pic.twitter.com/djx4GEkv6m
— CJ Vogel (@CJVogel_OTF) March 20, 2024
One of the best remaining options, 32-year-old Johnathan Hankins, signed with the Seattle Seahawks on Tuesday, nixing the notion of a Hankins-Rankins defensive tackle tandem as Cincinnati signed Sheldon Rankins on Monday.
Rankins proclaimed himself a much better run defender than he gets credit for, but he always has been and always will be a 3-technique whose main contribution is as a pass rusher.
Let’s take a look at the dwindling, uninspiring run-stopping options that remain in free agency.
Teair Tart
The Bengals had him in for a visit on Thursday and let him leave without a deal. Given how big the need is and the fact that Tart had enough interest to fly to Cincinnati, there must have been something that didn’t sit well with the coaches and/or front office in their conversations with Tart.
He is by far the best option remaining, but the Bengals appear to have taken him off the table.
Austin Johnson
The 2016 second-round pick started all 17 games for the Los Angeles Chargers in 2023, and he has 42 starts in his last three seasons after registering just 13 in his first five years in the league.
The 6’4″, 314-pound Johnson, who turns 30 in May, had 46 tackles last year, the second-highest total of his career while ranking 54th among 68 qualifying defensive tackles in Pro Football Focus’ run-stopping grades.
In 2021 with the New York Giants — when he also started all 17 games — Johnson ranked 47th of 82 defensive tackles.
Bryan Mone
A knee injury in Dec. 2022 forced Mone to miss the 2023 season, and earlier this month the Seahawks released him to save $5.4 million in cap space.
"They can't let him walk out the door without a contract."
Come for our discussion on Trent Brown minutes before he signed, and stay for our #Bengals bracket where we seed the free agent signings of the Zac era.
Who are the four 1 seeds?
Who are the 8s?https://t.co/7CntoQlAyT— Jay Morrison (@ByJayMorrison) March 20, 2024
An undrafted college free agent out of Michigan in 2019, Mone has eight career starts, all with Seattle, which signed him to a two-year, $11 million contract ahead of the 2022 season.
Mone played 154 run snaps that year. Among the 100 defensive tackles with at least 150, he ranked 75th in PFF’s run-stop grades.
Linval Joseph
He’s logged 170 career starts while reaching double digits in every season from 2011-12. But Joseph, who will be 36 in October, has appeared in just 15 games the last two seasons, albeit on excellent defenses in Philadelphia (2022) and Buffalo (2023).
KEEP READING: Cincinnati Bengals Free Agency — The 3 Most Interesting Things Trent Brown Said After Signing
Age obviously is the biggest concern. Joseph logged 74 snaps in run defense last year, and PFF ranked him 144th out of 151 defensive tackles with at least 70.
Josh Tupou
We’ve reached the re-signing portion at the bottom of the barrel. Tupou has been a serviceable backup for the Bengals since coming out of Colorado as an undrafted college free agent in 2017.
But the Bengals have been focused on overhauling the position, and bringing back Tupou, who turns 30 in May, goes against that.
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