Trae Waynes on his way to being one of Bengals worst free agent signings

The Cincinnati Bengals signed Trae Waynes last offseason to help out their secondary but unfortunately, the signing hasn’t gone according to plan thus far.

Waynes, who spent the first five years of his career in Minnesota, appeared in 74 games and made 53 starts during that time. He wasn’t known for being injury prone but that’s the label he’s been slapped with since joining the Bengals in the spring of 2020.

Waynes was injured during training camp last season and didn’t play a single regular-season snap for the Bengals as a result. Then, this summer, he also got banged up and it’s already been reported that he’ll miss Week 1 against the Vikings, who just happen to be his former team.

Trae Waynes has been a terrible free agent signing for the Bengals.

The Bengals have completely rebuilt their secondary in recent years and Waynes was the start of them hoping for something better in that department. It didn’t work out last year but the Bengals hoped that this year would be better and Waynes would be able to contribute.

This past offseason saw Cincinnati sign former Cowboys cornerback Chidobe Awuzie and former Steelers cornerback Mike Hilton while also bringing in former first-rounder Eli Apple, who will now fill in for Waynes as the starter.

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Not having Waynes isn’t the end of the world but the fact that the Bengals gave the guy a $42 million deal and he’s yet to play a single regular-season snap with them definitely has him in the running to be one of the worst free-agent signings in franchise history. There’s still time for Waynes to prove he can be a contributor but at this point, even if he does play, it’ll be tough for him to live up to that contract he signed.

Let’s hope we see Trae Waynes on the field at some point this year.