The Seattle Seahawks have been crowned Super Bowl Champions, and now 31 other NFL teams, including the Cincinnati Bengals, will start working on their plan to dethrone them. With free agency and the NFL Draft right around the corner, hopefully, they make the right moves to get back in contention.

Seattle’s defense is a large component of why they were able to hoist the Lombardi Trophy on Sunday, and the Bengals’ defense is a large component of why they’ve failed to qualify for the postseason in each of the last three seasons.

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A young star in that Seattle secondary, Nick Emmanwori, said that the Bengals showed interest in drafting him, but obviously passed on him before Seattle snagged him in the second round.

“I knew [the Seahawks] were trying to come get me, but I thought it was gonna be at 18, or maybe try to trade back into the first round again. But I’m not sure…I definitely thought it was going to be the Seahawks, Bengals, Bills, Commanders, and the Eagles. Those were the teams I thought for sure was going to pick me up,” Emmanwori said leading up to the Super Bowl.

The Bengals opted to roll with the same safety tandem from 2024. Jordan Battle flashed but struggled with missed tackles all season long. Geno Stone had a rough year, to say the least, and now his future with the team is very much up in the air. Seeing the impact Emmanwori had on Seattle will certainly make fans wonder if the Bengals would have taken him with the 17th overall pick last season.

Instead, the team drafted Shemar Stewart, whose rookie campaign will be remembered for a contract dispute and multiple injuries. Stewart certainly has the talent and ability to become a strong player, but Emmanwori’s immediate impact may have been more beneficial for a Bengals team that was in “win now” mode after investing so heavily in their offense.

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With that said, hindsight is 20/20, and all the Bengals can do now is move forward and look for an Emmanwori-level contributor in this NFL Draft class. Some fans are hoping that is Ohio State Buckeyes safety Caleb Downs.