CINCINNATI (WKRC) – With only six picks in the recently completed NFL Draft, the Bengals were not going to be able to address every positional need and the one glaring omission came at safety.

That may mean new defensive coordinator Al Golden likes what he sees, or can work with, in Jordan Battle and Geno Stone, but even if that is the case the depth behind them is woefully inexperienced.

Since being selected in the fifth round of the 2022 draft Tycen Anderson has played only 24 games, 17 of which came this past season, as he has battled injuries. All of his snaps have come on special teams — he hasn’t played a single defensive snap in a regular-season game.

Daijahn Anthony, a 2024 seventh round pick, is most noted for a costly pass interference call in the loss at Kansas City last season. That was one of 11 defensive snaps in which he participated in the 13 games he played.

Behind them are Jaylen Key and PJ Jules. Key was a seventh round pick of the New York Jets in the 2024 draft, but spent time on their practice squad before being released on Oct. 30, 2024. The Bengals signed him to their practice squad on Dec. 17, 2024 and then signed to a reserve/futures contract on Jan. 7, 2025. Jules was an undrafted free agent signee in May 2024 and spent last season on the practice squad.

They are reportedly signing undrafted free agent Shaquan Loyal, who played in college at Rutgers.

Keep in mind, too, that Battle didn’t crack the starting lineup last season until Game 12, and while Stone had a team-high four interceptions he also played inconsistently in coverage and had 15 missed tackles, according to ProFootballReference.com. Battle graded out as the 136th best safety of 171 players at the position, according to ProFootballFocus.com, with a rank of 139th against the run and 129th in coverage. Stone also graded out 136 of 171 overall with a rank of 161st against the run and 127th in coverage.

Again, perhaps Golden sees something he can fix, but the whole situation screams that the Bengals need to sign a veteran free agent who can push for a starting spot or at the least provide experienced depth.

According to Spotrac.com, the Bengals have $24 million in salary cap space, but as always keep in mind to deduct about $10-15 million from that for things the team accounts for that the website doesn’t — signing draft picks, paying for the practice squad, money set aside for signing players during the season when injuries arise and for incentives, among other things. That still leaves roughly $10-12 million, and they can add another $5.85 million to that when they release veteran linebacker Germaine Pratt, as expected. Some of that money could be used toward an extension for defensive end Trey Hendrickson, but the Pratt savings could certainly go toward signing a safety.

One other very remote possibility is to move Dax Hill back to safety and sign a cornerback. Hill is coming off of surgery to repair a torn ACL in his right knee suffered in the fifth game of last season, and he likely will need some more time to get back to full speed needed to play cornerback. Yes, he struggled as a starter at the position in 2023, which was why he was moved to cornerback last season, but that was also his first full season playing the position and he was paired with free agent signee Nick Scott, who didn’t know the system very well and also didn’t play well.

Here is a look at four potential veteran free agent safeties the Bengals could (or should) sign, and most of the rest available are on the wrong side of 30 years old and/or didn’t play all that well last season:

1. Justin Simmons

The Skinny: According to CBSSports.com, “This has been a pairing that has been speculated long before the draft, with Simmons himself mentioning the Bengals as a possible free agent fit earlier this offseason.” The 31-year-old has been a second team All-Pro selection four times, most recently in 2023, and while he didn’t play at that level last season for the Atlanta Falcons, he still started 16 games and graded 113 of 171 safeties overall from PFF.com, and was graded 83rd in coverage. Spotrac,com estimates his market value at $5.78 million per year.

2. Julian Blackmon

The Skinny: He may be a little more costly than Simmons as his market value is estimated at $8 million per year, but he will only turn 27 in July. He spent his first five NFL seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and started 62 of 66 games he was healthy over the past five seasons. In 2024 he started 16 games and played with a torn labrum suffered in the opener. He ranked 48th in overall grade from PFF.com and was 23rd in coverage.

3. Jordan Whitehead

The Skinny: He suffered a pectoral muscle injury in Week 12 that caused him to miss four games, and then he missed the regular-season finale and playoff game for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after suffering injuries in a car crash. He was graded 120th overall from PFF, but ranked 57th against the run. He was slated to make $3.75 million this season in base salary, but Tampa Bay declined his option.

4. Jalen Mills

The Skinny: He just turned 31, which is a negative, and he played only nine games, eight of which he started for the New York Jets last season, which is a negative. However, he played fairly well when he was on the field. The former cornerback graded 86th overall from PFF.com, and was 77th in pass coverage. According to ProFootballReference.com, Mills allowed a 47.8 completion percentage on passes in his area and quarterbacks had a passer rating of 51.7 against him. He started 32 games, 17 at cornerback and 15 at safety, for the Philadelphia Eagles from 2018-2020 and 34 games, mostly at cornerback, for the New England Patriots from 2021-23 before starting last season on the Jets practice squad. Mills’ season ended in Game 15 when he suffered a collarbone injury. He earned a base salary of $1.2 million last season.