This Monday marks the beginning of the legal tampering period-- which, for all intents and purposes, is the de facto start of free agency. While deals and signings don't become official until the following Wednesday at 4:00 PM, which is when the new league year officially begins, typically the agreements made during this legal tampering period hold true.
This offseason will be a critical one for the Cincinnati Bengals as they try to claw their way back into contention after wallowing in the doldrums of playoff-less football for three straight seasons, and it all starts on March 9th. While fans have been projecting big, splash signings to the team for months (such as John Franklin-Myers, Boye Mafe, Bryan Cook, etc.), the "reunion" signing has become a pattern for Cincinnati these last couple of years.
In 2024, they brought back safety Vonn Bell after the Ohio State alum spent a year in Carolina, and last year they reunited with running back Samaje Perine after year-long stints with the Broncos and Chiefs, respectively. Will they continue this trend of bringing back Bengals from the team that made the Super Bowl run this offseason?
Well, if they decide to, here are four former Bengals set to hit the open market that the front office may target.
All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference.
D.J. Reader
Of all the former Bengals set to become free agents this offseason, Reader has been the one who has been projected the most to return to Cincinnati. While signing Reader wouldn't fix the persistent issue of the lack of pass rush from the defensive line and specifically the interior of said line, he is still a plus as a run defender, which would certainly help a defense that gave up the most rushing yards and second-most rushing yards per attempt in 2025.
On top of that, while he isn't a good pass rusher, he does open things up for the other linemen by eating up blocks. B.J. Hill was at his best as a pocket-pushing presence on the interior when he was lined up next to Reader.
With T.J. Slaton potentially being a cut candidate, the Bengals may be in line to bring back the hefty, run-stopping nose tackle during free agency.
Chidobe Awuzie
The Bengals are reportedly working to extend D.J. Turner and Dax Hill, and they may have it done by the time this article is published. They already got Jalen Davis' extension done. Josh Newton has become a somewhat reliable rotational piece in the secondary, and D.J. Ivey helps to bolster the depth. So, the cornerback room seems pretty locked down, right? Not exactly...
Cam Taylor-Britt's short time in Cincinnati, characterized by erratic play, has almost certainly come to a close, and Marco Wilson may be out the door too. Even if the latter does return, the front office may look to add depth, as both Turner and Hill have each suffered a major, season-ending injury already in their short careers (both in 2024, too). If they are looking to add a corner on the cheap who will play a limited amount of snaps, then a reunion with Chidobe Awuzie may be in order.
Awuzie spent 2025 with Baltimore and played solidly in a limited role, finishing the season with 7 passes defended and a 75.4 PFF grade. He did allow a 90.7 passer rating when targeted and had a 12.2% missed tackle rate, but these numbers aren't terrible for someone you're not anticipating to start. With a $1.3 million pricetag according to Spotrac, Cincy may look to bring him back with Cam Taylor-Britt's impending departure.
Akeem Davis-Gaither
Since Davis-Gaither was released by Arizona, the Bengals could technically sign him right now before the new league year starts if they wanted. Linebacker was the weakest position for Cincinnati during the 2025 season, with Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight Jr. starting as rookies and having bottom-of-the-barrel seasons (although Knight did look considerably better down the stretch), so the front office almost certainly will look to make a change there, likely through free agency rather than the draft, given that they just drafted two linebackers in 2025.
While Appalachian State alum struggled mightily in coverage for the Cardinals in 2025-- allowing 475 yards, 6 touchdowns, and a 127.7 passer rating when targeted-- he was a far better tackler than the Bengals' rookie tandem, recording 117 total tackles on a missed tackle rate of just 5.6%. Don't get me wrong, his tackling abilities doesn't make up for his inabilities in coverage, but Barrett Carter struggled similarly in coverage while also being a poor tackler, so Davis-Gaither is at least a step up in that regard.
This one is less likely than the others, mainly because they already have depth at the linebacker position with Oren Burks and Joe Giles-Harris; what they really need is a starter-quality player in this room. He is a good special teamer, but Joe Giles-Harris looked great on special teams in 2025, so they wouldn't really need ADG to fill that role. Nonetheless, a reunion is possible, especially if they decide to cut Burks or Giles-Harris.
Joe Mixon
Just like Akeem Davis-Gaither, Mixon was released recently, which means a reunion with Cincinnati could happen before the official starting date of March 11th. Him being cut from the Texans comes after a 2025 season that he missed the entirety of due to some mysterious foot injury. There are a lot of rumors and speculations on what exactly this injury was, but since nothing is confirmed yet, you'll have to take them with a grain of salt.
Of all the players in this article, Mixon's time in stripes was the longest, as he was in Cincy, knifing through opposing defenses from 2017 to 2023, and he could very well be looking at a second stint for the Bengals. Cincinnati doesn't need a running back with Chase Brown under contract until the end of the 2026-27 season, and the Samaje Perine reunion has been a surprisingly pleasant one. That said, he could return to where it all started as added depth.
Since he missed the whole 2025 season with an injury that brought about a lot of drama and was released, Mixon won't be commanding a major contract. In fact, he might even get a vet minimum. It doesn't take much for running backs to be discarded these days, and missing an entire season will do that. He's also familiar with and has a rapport with pretty much every player on the offense, which could influence the Bengals to bring him back.
Still, it would be stupid to think that they wouldn't consider the lost season and all the stuff about his foot, and may turn away from this reunion because of it. Besides, if they really wanted to add a running back for depth, they could just take a rookie with a lot of grease on his wheels in the 7th round or even as a UDFA for even cheaper.
Which of these reunions would you want to see?