Jan. 24, 2026, 10:05 a.m. ET

Cincinnati Bengals safety Geno Stone took to social media to start the weekend and appeared to say goodbye to the team ahead of his trip to free agency. 

It was a small message, but that’s how fans took the message, anyway. 

Stone is one possible point of major change for the Bengals this offseason after the massive defensive struggles under new coordinator Al Golden this year. 

Hence, fans reading quite a bit into a small message: 

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Bengals coaches made a point to praise Stone’s leadership and effort this year. And to his credit, finishing 81st out of 98 graded safeties in the NFL at PFF isn’t all on him, not while the franchise decided to quietly hit the rebuild button and struggle with two rookie linebackers starting in front of him. 

Alas, missed tackles and mistakes plagued Stone and the secondary, so it’s a position they’re likely to address as early as 10th overall in the draft, if not in free agency, too.

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