{"id":854719,"date":"2026-04-05T06:41:59","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T06:41:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/854719\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T06:41:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T06:41:59","slug":"cincinnati-bengals-two-free-agent-defenders-signed-to-bolster-secondary-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/854719\/","title":{"rendered":"Cincinnati Bengals: Two free agent defenders signed to bolster secondary | Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Cincinnati Bengals weren\u2019t done making moves in free agency, after all.<\/p>\n<p>According to ESPN\u2019s Adam Schefter, the Bengals are signing former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Kyle Dugger to a one-year deal, and the team announced Thursday morning that it added cornerback Ja\u2019Sir Taylor on a one-year contract through 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Both positions were expected to be areas the Bengals would target in the draft, and while these signings don\u2019t necessarily change those plans, they do offer more flexibility.<\/p>\n<p>                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAQAAAAe\/WZNAAAAEElEQVR42mM8U88ABowYDABAxQPltt5zqAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==\" alt=\"Jets Saints Football\" class=\"img-responsive lazyload ap-photo full blur\" width=\"1763\" height=\"1176\" data- data-\/><\/p>\n<p>             <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/69cea869b11b2.image.jpg\" alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" loading=\"lazy\" height=\"133\" width=\"200\"\/><\/p>\n<p>New York Jets cornerback Ja\u2019Sir Taylor (36) during pregame of an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in New Orleans. (AP Photo\/Ella Hall) Ella Hall<\/p>\n<p>                                    Ella Hall<\/p>\n<p>Taylor especially fills a need at the slot cornerback spot, where only Jalen Davis returns. A fifth-year player who originally was a sixth-round draft pick of the LA Chargers in 2022, he played in 57 games for the Chargers before being traded to the New York Jets in November. With the Jets, he played in eight games, bringing his career totals to 65 regular-season games with 12 starts, 76 tackles, one tackle for loss, 15 passes defended and one interception, along with 21 tackles on special teams.<\/p>\n<p>The 30-year-old Dugger is entering his seventh season after joining the league in 2020 as a second-round draft pick of the New England Patriots. He played 81 games with 69 starts for New England before he was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers in October 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Dugger, who has played both strong and free safety, started nine games for Pittsburgh and recorded two interceptions and 42 tackles, while allowing 17 receptions on 30 targets. He joins a safety group that includes newcomer Bryan Cook and returning strong safety Jordan Battle.<\/p>\n<p>                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAQAAAAe\/WZNAAAAEElEQVR42mM8U88ABowYDABAxQPltt5zqAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==\" alt=\"Steelers Browns Football\" class=\"img-responsive lazyload ap-photo full blur\" width=\"1763\" height=\"1176\" data- data-\/><\/p>\n<p>             <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/69cea85c90f7b.image.jpg\" alt=\"\" aria-hidden=\"true\" loading=\"lazy\" height=\"133\" width=\"200\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Pittsburgh Steelers safety Kyle Dugger (29) celebrates with teammates after intercepting a pass during the second half of an NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo\/David Richard) David Richard<\/p>\n<p>                                    David Richard<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Cincinnati Bengals weren\u2019t done making moves in free agency, after all. According to ESPN\u2019s Adam Schefter, the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":854720,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2053],"tags":[228,227,256,2296,7,6,116754],"class_list":{"0":"post-854719","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cincinnati-bengals","8":"tag-bengals","9":"tag-cincinnati","10":"tag-cincinnati-bengals","11":"tag-cincinnatibengals","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-verticals-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116350745077065580","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=854719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854719\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/854720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=854719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=854719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=854719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}