Cincinnati Bengals fans bade adieu to Geno Stone this offseason, and I'll speak for everyone: We couldn't have been more thrilled about it. Stone went from an instantly beloved Bengal for defecting from the Baltimore Ravens to more or less defecating on the field for Cincinnati every Sunday.
I laugh at the Buffalo Bills. I'm not even going to hide it. Did they really think their dubious safety depth would be saved by signing Geno Stone? I guess they did.
What a critical error. Jordan Schultz broke the news on Sunday that Stone had been cut loose by the Bills.
That was always going to pan out about as well as Bills GM Brandon Beane overpaying in a trade for DJ Moore to be his new WR1. Get ready, Brandon, to behold DJ doing some light cardio and only occasionally being where he's supposed to be for Josh Allen.
Anyway let's stick on our boy Geno here.
Stone's swift exit from Buffalo is a fate any Bengals fan could see coming
Shout out to Gridrion Grading and CLNSCincy.com beat reporter Mike Petraglia for capturing the quintessence of how disastrous the Bengals' safety position was in 2025:
Of the 66 safeties in the NFL that have played 525+ snaps, Geno Stone has the 2nd most missed tackles with 22.
— Gridiron Grading (@GridironGrading) December 29, 2025
He is also 1 of 2 safeties on this list that hasn’t forced an incompletion this season.
That position has to be upgraded or have major competition added, at the least. https://t.co/gKMsXAKMYM
To glimpse that data on Stone and think he could be of any help to any championship-caliber locker room whatsoever is ridiculous.
What sort of egomaniacs are kicking around up there in Buffalo that they thought something could be salvaged with Geno Stone? If the safety-desperate Bengals saw anything whatsoever in Stone, they would've kept him.
But no. The guy can't tackle. The guy can't cover. His lack of want-to as a football player is straight up alarming. Like to the point where you wonder if he likes the game, never mind loves it.
Look, maybe something adverse is going on in Stone's life off the field that I'm not privy to, or he's hidden injuries he's played through. Whatever the case may be, this is the NFL. It's a business. and Stone is a shell of the player who had seven interceptions for the Ravens back in 2023.
Rights issues prevent me from embedding, but if you want a laugh, watch this lowlight reel of Stone's time in Cincy. It is incompetence of the most egregious degree.
As if there wasn't enough striking evidence of Stone's unwillingness to tackle or be meaningfully engaged on the gridiron, just look at this attempt at stopping Steelers rookie Germie Bernard from reaching the end zone in the preseason finale:
1️⃣8️⃣ ➡️ 1️⃣7️⃣
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) August 27, 2026
📲 Stream on NFL+: https://t.co/vqIDzYZB2x pic.twitter.com/QgvPl5DWa4
Hesitation. Circuitous pursuit angle. A glancing, thrown-shoulder blow at the too-late last moment. Horrendous football.
Thank goodness the Bengals got real with themselves and signed ex-Chiefs safety Bryan Cook in free agency. Not only is his arrival in Cincinnati a homecoming, but he's a two-time Super Bowl champ who can actually, you know, start in the NFL.
And as for the Bills, they don't have a viable nickelback, and their safety room is far removed from the dynamic Micah Hyde-Jordan Poyer duo of yesteryear. That they had to resort to Stone in the first place is a sign of their desperation, and how Josh Allen will once again have to carry the team as far as only he can in 2026.
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