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The Bengals beefed up almost all of their weaknesses this offseason, but it's hard to fill every hole on an NFL team in a salary-capped league.
NFL.com's Matt Okada dialed in on their top remaining weakness, which is a bit different from what most fans would likely land on.
Weak At Safety?
The writer has strong safety as the team's biggest roster hole left, not linebacker, like most people have said over and over this offseason.
"Yes, the Bengals signed Bryan Cook to replace Geno Stone at free safety, a crucial improvement for a defense prone to big-play obliteration," Okada noted. "Jordan Battle remains their top strong safety after a rough 2025 campaign. And adding Kyle Dugger in free agency is more likely to supply viable depth than solve starter problems. Cincy was historically bad against tight ends last year and has been a bottom-eight total defense three years running. The Bengals need to fix this issue -- and fast -- to seriously contend in the AFC."
Battle was up and down in his third NFL season. The young thumper posted a 61.5 Pro Football Focus grade (13th on the defense) across a team-high 1,047 snaps.
It may be a bit of a weakness on paper, but Battle bounced back with better play compared to 2024 (career-low 53.1 PFF grade) and has deep knowledge of Al Golden's system now.
Battle losing his job to an outside addition seems unlikely at this point in the offseason, but the pressure is on behind him. Dugger has a ton of experience at different spots in the secondary. He just played 270 snaps in 2025 at the same box safety position as Battle. Competition is always brewing, especially at a spot where the Bengals have desired more impact in recent seasons.
Director of player personnel, Duke Tobin, glowed about the team build following the 2026 NFL Draft.
"After free agency, our team is pretty complete,” Tobin said in April. “We didn't have a lot of holes. We have a lot of guys that have played a lot of football. We have young guys that are just starting to find their groove and play really well for us. So, it frees you up a little bit. You don't want to be drafting for starters. If your draftees become starters, that's great, but you don't want to be reliant on them to start immediately, and that's not where our team is."
Check out the full list from Okada here.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/bengals/onsi as Bengals Position Group Deemed Team's Biggest Remaining Issue Despite 2026 Offseason Investment.
