The fact that the Cincinnati Bengals need to upgrade the defense isn’t a secret to anyone.
Cincinnati’s elite offense has been held back by a middling defense for years now, and improving on that side of the ball should be a top priority for the Bengals this offseason.
Bengals predicted to add Jaylen Watson in free agency
In a recent article for Bleacher Report, Alex Kay predicts that the Bengals will sign cornerback Jaylen Watson in free agency. Watson won two Super Bowls as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs, and he’ll be hitting free agency for the first time in his career this offseason.
“The Bengals are squandering a Super Bowl window for Joe Burrow and a dynamic offense by consistently fielding abysmal defenses. The cornerback position has been of particular concern in Cincinnati in recent years, even after emergence of DJ Turner as one of the league’s better defensive backs,” Kay wrote.
“With Cam Taylor-Britt a candidate to exit in free agency, the Bengals shouldn’t hesitate to pair Turner with Watson to create one of the better cornerback tandems in football.”
Watson is coming off of a productive 2025 campaign in which he started 15 games for Kansas City and tallied 64 combined tackles, six passes defended, three tackles for a loss, two QB hits and two interceptions.
The biggest concern when it comes to Watson is health. He was limited to just six games in 2024 due to a broken fibula and he finished the ’25 season on injured reserve with a groin injury.
However, since those are completely unrelated injuries, they were probably both just the result of tough luck, as opposed to being an indication of Watson being injury prone.
These injuries shouldn’t scare interested suitors away. Given his experience and skill set, Watson would make a logical target for a Bengals team desperately in need of some added help on defense.
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