Cincinnati Bengals
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Geno Stone made comments about the team's winning culture
The Cincinnati Bengals have used this offseason to retool their defense. Last season, Cincinnati’s defense finished 31st in yards allowed and 30th in points allowed, which led the team to its worst record since 2020 despite posting a top-10 offense. The Bengals offense featured four different Pro Bowl players, but they were unable to generate stops when the team needed it most.
As a result, they have overhauled their defense in the first week of free agency. They signed Cincinnati native safetyBryan Cook to a three-year, $40.2 million contract. Then, the Bengals improved their pass rush as they signed 20-sack edge defender Boye Mafe to a $60 million contract.Most recently, the team added two-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Jonathan Allen.
Adding three starters also means the team will lose some of its starters from the 2025 season. And one of those players, who has recently signed with an AFC contender, has made his feelings clear on the Cincinnati Bengals.
Former Cincinnati Bengals Safety Makes Feelings Clear
Former Cincinnati Bengals SafetyGeno Stone, who recently signed with the Buffalo Bills, made his first public comments, where he took a shot at the Bengals.
After signing with the Bills, Stone explained his reasoning for picking Buffalo as his next destination.He said, “Getting back into a winning culture. Just being here and being around all the guys and kind of the things they’ve done here, it’s kind of one of the reasons I came here. You know, also having Josh Allen on the other side of the ball, knowing I got another great quarterback I get to play with.”
Stone signed a two-year, $14 million contract with the Bengals prior to the 2024 season, and he failed to live up to that contract despite starting 34 games. Regarding his performance with the team,Sports Illustrated’s Russell Heltman wrote, “The veteran (Stone) was one of the poorest performers on the team over the past two years and a big reason why the Bengals ranked last in yards per play last season. He posted 53.1 and 54.3 Pro Football Focus grades in 2024 and 2025. Stone tallied six interceptions and 10 pass breakups combined the last two seasons, after posting seven picks and nine PBU’s alone in 2023.
Stone missed a team-high 26 tackles this past season and was second behind Germaine Pratt in 2024 with 17 missed tackles. Add in a 110.4 NFL passer rating allowed in his coverage area this past season (16 points higher than in 2024), and you get a “winning culture” that Stone did very little to impact positively on the field.”
New Bengals Safety
The Bengals failed to make the postseason with Stone and had a bottom-10 defense in his pair of seasons with the team. The team will hope that improves with Stone’s replacement Bryan Cook.
Pro Football Focus ranked Cook as the fourth-best safety in the NFL last season. Heading into free agency, Cook was ranked as the No. 37 free agent available byThe Athletic’s Daniel Popper. Popper wrote, “Cook is a two-way safety who can play in the deep part of the field and closer to the line of scrimmage. He has a complete skill set: consistent eyes in zone, a deep-field presence, run-and-hit ability in the alley, physicality and a quick trigger on screens and swings. Cook will deliver the boom on tight-window throws over the middle. Though he played mostly as a deep-field safety in coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s Chiefs defense, he has the potential to do more, particularly as a blitzer.”