The Cincinnati Bengals had a mostly positive first wave of free agency, but some of their incumbent players must be feeling a little less secure than others after the latest additions.
While it'd be nice if the Bengals still added another veteran at defensive end and/or linebacker, we can't expect Cincinnati's front office to go that far. Let's just cherish what we have, because it's better than nothing, or the typical underwhelming offseason open market haul.
To avoid a vaguely-worded intro any longer, let's jump into the Bengals' biggest winners and losers of free agency. A general theme: Lots of tough news for a number of depended-upon draftees.
Winner: Jordan Battle
Thanks to his ascent as an exceptional deep safety in pass coverage, 2023 third-round pick Jordan Battle is helping make that year's draft class look pretty strong. Battle came into his own in Year 3, just like first-rounder Myles Murphy did down the stretch and DJ Turner did all season.
Battle stayed winning in free agency, too. He's entering a contract year, and should be freed up to play to his full potential after the Bengals signed Kansas City Chiefs safety Bryan Cook.
Whereas Cook is more of a sure-tackling stalwart, Battle is far more effective in pure pass coverage. That said, it's not that Battle is downright poor at defending the run. Not having to play next to tackling whiff machine Geno Stone will help him improve in that area by default. And again, any improvement at linebacker, any which way it manifests, would help the cause, too.
Loser: Shemar Stewart
Last year's first-round pick had an injury-plagued rookie season. When he was healthy enough to be out there, Stewart looked horrible. Just what fans feared when the 17th overall pick was spent on a player with a historically elite athletic profile, yet only 4.5 sacks in three years at Texas A&M.
Speaking of three years, that's how long Boye Mafe's $60 million Bengals contract is. The Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl champion will indubitably start at defensive end opposite Myles Murphy.
When you draft a player on Day 1 at a premium position like defensive end, you'd hope he'd be ready to start by Week 1, Year 2. Not the case whatsoever with Stewart. To Cincinnati's credit, they recognized he wouldn't be ready, and spent on Mafe accordingly.
Perhaps Mafe's relegation to a rotational role in Seattle can serve as inspiration for Stewart to up his game and make the most of the reps he does get. Tough look for him right now, though.
Winner: Barrett Carter
The fact that this dude is still somehow the green dot linebacker on defense is laughable. Carter was perhaps the worst linebacker in the sport last season.
Unless a free-agent veteran is coming to save the position group, Bengals fans will have to pray for Ohio State's Sonny Styles in the first round. Then again, investing three of one's last five top draft picks in off-ball linebackers feels a tad irresponsible.
...It wouldn't feel irresponsible, however, if Cincinnati wasn't putting so much faith in a fourth-round pick to be a franchise cornerstone. Carter has no business as a starter, save for on special teams.
Get someone to believe in you like Al Golden and the front office believe in Barrett Carter. I imagine you'll have indefatigable confidence.
Loser: Kris Jenkins Jr.
As soon as Jonathan Allen signed up to be a Bengal, any notion that Kris Jenkins Jr. would have a significant role in 2026 was put to bed. Jenkins was the 49th pick in the 2024 draft, and has done nothing but disappoint since landing in the pros.
If you ever need a case study for not putting too much into Bruce Feldman's Freaks List, look no further than Jenkins. Either he's not the "freak" athlete everyone hoped, or he has zero wherewithal to translate that to a productive NFL career.
B.J. Hill and Allen will keep Jenkins buried on the depth chart this coming year. In fact, if Duke Tobin wasn't so prideful about draft picks, it'd probably be worth waiving Jenkins at this point.
Winner: Andrei Iosivas
What a lucky duck Yoshi is. If the Bengals sign one more tight end, Mike Gesicki could flex out to be more of a full-time slot wide receiver and help Cincinnati's personnel packages be more versatile.
Iosivas isn't a good enough WR3 to go uncontested as a starter. Massive disappointment in 2025 overall. Could he bounce back? Yes. Could the Bengals easily find an upgrade via free agency and the draft? Also yes.
My guess is, Cincinnati takes a mid- to late-round flier on a receiver to compete with Iosivas. A few free agent possibilities still available: Christian Kirk, Brandin Cooks, and JuJu Smith-Schuster.