3 Bengals free agents we'll sadly miss in 2024

Chidobe Awuzie

One of the biggest names the Bengals signed in the 2021 offseason was Awuzie, who immediately came in and shored up the secondary. Awuzie was a second-round pick by the Cowboys in 2017, spent four years in Dallas, and then joined the Bengals just in time for their resurgence.

Awuzie was coming off of a down year in 2020 with the Cowboys when the Bengals signed him but he bounced back in a big way in 2021, finishing the season with a PFF coverage grade of 84.2. He struggled in the postseason but was putting together another nice campaign in 2022 when he tore his ACL and missed the second half of the season.

The 2023 season wasn't as kind to Awuzie, as he was prone to giving up explosive plays. The entire defense was guilty of this though, to be fair.

That being said, Awuzie is turning 29 in May and the Bengals have young, reliable options in their secondary moving forward. Cam Taylor-Britt and D.J. Turner are two recent draft picks that have looked good so far and Turner was likely picked to replace Awuzie.

It'll be sad to see Awuzie go since he played so well in his first year and a half with the team but moving on makes sense for both sides.