Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
The 2025 season felt like a similar nightmare for the Cincinnati Bengals, seeing star quarterback Joe Burrow go down with an injury, while the defense struggled again. Even when Burrow came back from the injury, the defense was still a real problem, and the team missed the playoffs for the third straight season.
Calls were made for the organization to fire head coach Zac Taylor, but the Bengals decided to stick with him for at least one more year. With the offense clicking pretty much every season, the defense will need to be massively addressed this offseason; otherwise, it will be another wasted year for this organization.
With the Bengals needing to add on defense this offseason, the hope is that the front office will learn its lesson on how they’ve been successful in recent years. When the Bengals found success over the last five years or so, it was because the organization leaned into free agency and strong roster building.
But whether the organization will do this over the offseason remains to be seen, and is one of the largest questions surrounding the franchise right now. However, if things were to go south again in 2026, there will likely be massive changes coming to the organization, so the pressure is certainly on with the Bengals’ front office to find results.
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One name that could make a lot of sense for the Bengals this offseason is veteran defensive tackle John Franklin-Myers of the Denver Broncos. The Bengals desperately need help in the trenches on defense, and Franklin-Myers has been a very strong piece for the Broncos ove the years.
Franklin-Myers is good both at stopping the run and going after the quarterback in the passing attack, giving Cincinnati a weapon that they’ve been missing. Since Franklin-Myers could be the perfect target for the Bengals, the fit makes all the sense in the world for this team.
His presence would make a massive difference, and even if the team has to overpay a little to land him, it could be well worth it. Franklin-Myers is one of only two players to post at least seven sacks and 15 quarterback hits in each of the last two seasons, showing his dominance out on the field.
In 16 games played this year with the Broncos, Franklin-Myers posted 7.5 sacks, with 25 total tackles, and six tackles for loss. Putting him into the middle of the Bengals’ defensive line could see the team be much improved defensively, similar to how things went when Cincinnati signed DJ Reader a few years ago.
The one big question around Franklin-Myers is how he would fare without the other strong defensive players that the Broncos have, such as Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper, but this is a risk worth taking. Cincinnati desperately needs to change how it operates, especially with defensive players, and the veteran could be the start of turning this Bengals team back into a Super Bowl contender again.
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