The Cincinnati Bengals are oft-frugal spenders in free agency. When they aren't alienating their own star players in contract negotiations, they're routinely offering below-market deals to any outside talent they can get at a bargain.
To the front office's credit, they actually got a bit bold in the offseason before the 2024 campaign. Filling a need that still exists to this day, Duke Tobin inked a strong 3-technique pass rusher on a two-year accord.
Unfortunately, it all went sideways in Cincinnati. This player got cut after one season, only to start and shine for the playoff-winning Houston Texans' No. 1 defense.
Now that *name reveal drum roll* SHELDON RANKINS is slated to be a free agent again, bring on another go-round!
Bengals need to pull a Vonn Bell and sign Texans DT Sheldon Rankins in free agency
What could unfold with Texans defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins is uncannily similar to Vonn Bell's exit from Cincinnati after the AFC Championship Game loss at Kansas City. Bell signed with the Panthers, only to be released one year into a three-year deal.
Bell came back for last season, but wasn't what he once was. Didn't play a single NFL down in 2025. And yes, the Bengals still need serious help at the safety position.
As for Rankins, though, his second stint in Cincy would have to be more productive than Bell's was.
Read More: Shrewd Bengals ball knowers say it's time for an epic free agency reunion
It was honestly nobody's fault that Rankins flopped for the Bengals. He revealed back in July, prior to his raging on-field resurgence in Houston, that he lost 50-plus pounds in 2024 due to a scary confluence of major medical issues, via Michael Shapiro of the Houston Chronicle:
"I wasn't myself last year...I ended up having a shingles outbreak and viral meningitis at the same time. That kind of knocked me out for a while. ... A lot of people don't know I was laying horizontal in a dark house for probably about a month and a half before I could really even sit up. It was really kind of crazy."
Feels like this could only happen to the Bengals, right? What a freak worst-case scenario that is.
Rankins' heads-up play on a scoop-and-score touchdown on Wild Card Weekend against a hated Cincinnati rival wound up being the spark that vanquished the Steelers as we know them. Highlight below is in Spanish, because why not? The enthusiasm is palpable. To quote Dwyane Wade, "I love it."
¡Vámonos! Sheldon Rankins! pic.twitter.com/7CkNF0Cvwg
— Somos Texans (@SomosTexans) January 15, 2026
PFF graded Rankins as the 28th-best defensive tackle in the NFL in 2025. Here's where Bengals Not Named B.J. Hill checked in:
- Kris Jenkins Jr. — 84th; 113th/114 pass rushers
- T.J. Slaton — 115th; 88th/114 pass rushers
YeahpleasesendhelpKthanks.
Give me a dual reunion of Sheldon Rankins and D.J. Reader in Bengals stripes next season. I'd be so here for that.
Reader is still an exceptional run defender, which Cincinnati has lacked up front since his departure to Detroit. Rankins can realize his destiny as the interior pass rusher the Bengals should've had this past season, too, if not for the scary health situation.