Al Golden Addresses Possibility of Bengals Signing Safety in Free Agency

New Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden should of course bring a new mentality to a defense that severely lacked physicality last season and while much of that unit remains intact, free agent acquisition T.J. Slaton has been a welcome addition to the defense so far according to Golden. Slaton has much pressure on his shoulders with being one of few free agent additions the Bengals made on defense this offseason, but he may not have to shoulder that burden for much longer.

Golden made an interesting statement Wednesday afternoon when asked if the team could pursue a veteran safety via free agency:

"We have a great personnel department, we relied on them heavily for the three picks that we had on defense, we hit on all of them," Golden said. "I feel like they do it way better than we do it in terms of the marriage between needs and things that are open right now, and then also looking at it from the standpoint of a cap. So if there is opportunities to make our team better, I know they're gonna do that."

Golden went on to emphasize how the personnel department added depth to the linebacker room during his previous stint with the team as their linebackers coach from 2020-21.

"They did that when I was here last time, and I really think that whether it was waivers with Joe Bachie last time I was here or we went out and got Clay Johnston and Keandre Jones and all those guys that played linebacker that ended up being a really good group because of what they did upstairs."

Both Bachie and Johnston contributed heavily on special teams for the Bengals during the teams Super Bowl run in 2021 and even garnered playing time in key moments with Johnston in particular making a critical stop in the divisional round win against the Tennessee Titans when he stopped Derrick Henry short of the goal line on a two-point conversion attempt early in the contest.

Time will tell if the Bengals make a move to add depth at Safety where outside of starters Geno Stone and Jordan Battle, they only have special teams ace Tycen Anderson and former seventh round pick Daijahn Anthony.

There are some intriguing safety options on the market, including Julian Blackmon, Justin Simmons, and Jordan Whitehead.