The Cincinnati Bengals had a strong start to free agency once the legal tampering window opened, scoring Kansas City Chiefs safety Bryan Cook and Seattle Seahawks defensive end Boye Mafe.
Haters will point to how wonky Cook's Bengalsian contract is. Other skeptics will highlight the fact that Cincinnati will be paying $20 million in average annual value to an edge defender in Mafe who was a rotational player last season.
Let 'em talk. Yes, since Cook is a native of Cincinnati and played for the Bearcats in college, of course that had a lot to do with why he agreed to such a weirdly structured contract. And yes, since Mafe wasn't a full-time starter in 2025, he was positioned to take a big payday from a suitor who could offer him a chance to start on a glorified prove-it deal.
Although two levels of the defense got big upgrades, the Bengals still have a serious need at linebacker. They must consider no fewer than two of the top players on the open market now that they were outbid by the Carolina Panthers for All-Pro Devin Lloyd.
FanSided had Cook ranked 24th and Mafe 33rd among the top 110 free agents available. Lloyd was 10th. However, two other linebackers ranked 40th and 61st on that list are still free to sign.
Leo Chenal & Kaden Elliss are ideal solutions to Bengals' lingering linebacker problem
Would I have loved to see the Bengals truly go all-in on, say, defensive tackle John Franklin-Myers and Lloyd, offsetting one of those contracts by restructuring Joe Burrow's deal to the tune of $19+ million in 2026 cap savings? Of course!
...That's not how the Bengals do business. As long as I have this seat, I will continue to nitpick and hold them to the highest standard.
To their credit, Duke Tobin and the ownership collective took a big stride forward on Monday with the Cook and Mafe signings. There's still time to go further, but a lot of the big names have already agreed to terms with other teams. We're definitely on the right track in Cincinnati, yet there's still a sense that the front office could do more.
A great way for the Bengals to do more is not double down on their abysmal-looking 2025 rookie class. They wisely didn't hitch their wagon to Shemar Stewart as an unchallenged starter by signing Mafe, and they should take the same approach to the linebacker corps.
Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter were the NFL's worst starting linebacker tandem last year. They were rookies who were totally in over their heads.
What better way to help them out, and take one of them out of the starting lineup they have no business being in, than by signing someone like the Chiefs' Leo Chenal? Or the Atlanta Falcons' Kaden Elliss?
Chenal coming to Cincy as a package deal with Cook at Kansas City's expense would be the ideal scenario. He was a prime target for me in my epic Bengals mock offseason, which by the way, had Cook and Mafe as prospective signings. Until Chenal signs elsewhere, I won't give up on my imagined NASCAR package that sadly needs a sub for Franklin-Myers now.
Imagine a Myles Murphy-Shemar Stewart-John Franklin-Myers-Boye Mafe NASCAR pass rush package, with Leo Chenal and Sonny Styles as blitz threats.
— Matt Fitzgerald (@MattFitz_gerald) February 6, 2026
Re: simulated pressures w/ this personnel: ~33% of Chenal's NFL snaps at EDGE. Styles played edge on 17% of snaps the last 2 years https://t.co/Zr0pQsPRNz
Nice to have an X post shortcut to not explain Chenal's versatility.
As you can see from my mock offseason snapshot, I was keen on the Bengals adding Demario Davis. Sadly, he joined Joseph Ossai and a gaggle of other possible Cincinnati free-agent fits on the New York Jets. Good luck with that, y'all.
I'm still all for drafting Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles with the 10th overall pick if he's there. The other option is to sign Elliss and Chenal.
What I love about their complementary skill sets is that Chenal's freakish athleticism translates to being an excellent run defender. Meanwhile, Elliss is an exotic pass rushing inside linebacker with 19.5 sacks in the last four seasons. He's played 27.6% of his career snaps on the edge, per PFF.
Knight has played some on the edge for Cincinnati to date. I just trust Chenal or Elliss far more because they're far more proven commodities.
When it comes to Chenal in particular and why I like him, he's won two Super Bowls with the Chiefs in Steve Spagnuolo's scheme. Spags is among the best defensive coordinators of all-time. You can't be on the field for him if you don't know exactly what you're doing. That Chenal shined in multiple roles, and didn't rack up a terribly high snap count suggests he has a ton to offer on his second contract.
Now we wait to see if Cincinnati's two big splurges on Cook and Mafe were the extent of their top-market expenditures. I sure hope not.
What's wild is, for the price it would've cost to land Lloyd (say $16 million per year, based on his three-year, $45 million deal with Carolina), the Bengals might be able to get Chenal and Elliss. Here are there free-agent contract predictions from The Athletic, PFF, and Spotrac:
- The Athletic — Chenal: 3 years, $24 million / Elliss: 2 years, $19 million
- PFF — Chenal: 2 years, $12 million / Elliss: 3 years, $36 million
- Spotrac — Chenal: 3 years, $14 million / Elliss: 3 years, $27 million
- Approx. average deals — Chenal: 3 years, $15.5 million / Elliss: 3 years, $30.5 million
Could be a great several days in Who Dey Land!