Wouldn't it be cool if, for once, the Cincinnati Bengals didn't feel like they were getting out GM'd by a rival GM, who to begin with, is facing a GM who's not even a GM in title?
If that's a brain teaser, I've done my job. Duke Tobin isn't the Bengals' GM, because their under-resourced personnel department doesn't have one. He's nevertheless the personnel czar who's held his post since before the Y2K panic. That's right. True facts.
Anyway, Tobin tried to stick it to Baltimore Ravens GM Eric DeCosta once before by acquiring one of his safeties in free agency. It turned out to be a flop.
My thinking: What are the odds that lightning will strike twice if Duke goes back to the well?
Ravens free agent Dre'Mont Jones is the versatile defensive line upgrade Bengals need
Gaining a starter at the expense of a hated enemy is such a great feeling. That's what seemed to happen when Orlando Brown Jr. stunned the football world by fleeing Kansas City in favor of Cincinnati back in 2023.
The Chiefs have since won two Super Bowl, whereas the Bengals haven't even made the playoffs.
Tobin tried to do something similar by poaching Geno Stone away from Baltimore the following offseason. Alas, Stone was so bad in his first season with the Bengals that they forced him to take a pay cut, which he obliged. He then proceeded to play poorly again in 2025, missing 23 tackles and yielding a 109.5 passer rating, per PFF.
Although Ravens safeties Alohi Gilman and Ar'Darius Washington are unrestricted free agents, I'm sizing up one of their front seven chess pieces, Dre'Mont Jones.
Remember when the Bengals got shut out 24-0 by the Ravens in Week 15? With Joe Burrow at quarterback? Yeah, Dre'Mont Jones had six QB pressures in that game. He was giving Orlando Brown Jr. the business.
As an Ohio native from Cleveland who played for the Buckeyes in Columbus, Jones just has to come to Cincinnati to complete the big-city trifecta. At 6'3", 281 pounds, the 29-year-old vet can play inside or outside, much like Broncos pending free agent John Franklin-Myers.
The difference here is, Jones is more of an edge player in recent years, whereas Myers has been on the interior in Denver's base 3-4 alignment. The physical dimensions Jones boasts, along with his plus pass rushing ability that's produced 37.5 sacks in seven seasons, make him an ideal fit to start opposite Myles Murphy.
Then again, Jones is fully capable of kicking inside and crushing it if 2025 first-round pick Shemar Stewart proves his worthiness at defensive end. In the event Stewart ain't up to snuff, he has the size and athleticism to be an inside-out versatile guy like Jones is. Who better to mentor the young pup with limitless upside, eh?
Signing Dre'Mont Jones seems like a layup. A match made in football heaven, and a homecoming for an Ohio-born guy who could finally have a crack at winning a Super Bowl.
Then again, the Bengals can't even re-sign Dalton Risner at right guard yet. Nor can they decide where the heck they stand on Trey Hendrickson. Color me skeptical that Tobin and Co. have the savvy to somehow get Jones in the building once those unnecessary dramatics are resolved.
But hey, it's mid-February, and it's fun to dream for now, isn't it? Preemptively, imaginatively take that, Eric DeCosta!! HA!