Bengals Free Agent Profile: Geno Stone

We're getting closer and closer to NFL free agency, and the Cincinnati Bengals have 16 players with expiring contracts. Who will re-sign with the team, and who will leave when the 2026 league year begins? We'll go through all impending free agents before the madness begins.

Before the Bengals will add to their roster with external free agents, decisions need to be made about their own players. Some choices will be far easier than others, including what to do with their starting free safety of the last two years.

Geno Stone

Position: Safety
Age for 2027 Season: 27
Incoming NFL Year: 7th
Previous AAV: $4.9 million
2026 Snap %: 93.1%

Geno Stone was one of the first free agent signings Cincinnati made in the 2024 offseason. He was brought in to start where Dax Hill played the year prior as Hill was being moved to cornerback. The Bengals targeted him early in free agency because of the ball skills he showed with the Baltimore Ravens in 2023 as the NFL's leader in interceptions with seven.

Stone has amassed six INTs since joining Cincy, but that's been the only positive about his two-year stint as a starter. The former seventh-round pick has been one of the worst tacklers in the sport, and his overall work in coverage has not been good enough. The Bengals have allowed far too many explosive plays, and Stone's angles against both the run and pass have been nearly impossible to work around. Even when he arrived at the ballcarrier, a tackle was far from a guarantee.

Despite his obvious struggles, Cincinnati never really challenged Stone as a starter with internal competition. There was thought he could've been cut in the 2025 offseason, but the club opted to cut his pay instead and keep him as an uncontested starter. The results weren't noticeably different in his second season compared to his first, making his pending foray into free agency rather inevitable.