The Cincinnati Bengals had a huge defensive problem over the past couple of seasons. So when free agency hit, they did not hesitate to land one of the top players at a huge position of need. A player they knew from their own backyard, former Kansas City Chiefs safety Bryan Cook.
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Cook signed a three-year contract worth up to $40.25 million with $14 million guaranteed this offseason. He has just over a $10.6 million cap hit this season, according to Over The Cap. He accounts for 3.37 percent of the cap this year and is the 12th highest-paid safety as of writing.
Most Bengals fans may remember Cook more for the two years he spent at the University of Cincinnati in 2020 and 2021. Especially the 2021 season, when he was part of the team that earned a spot in the College Football Playoffs. He was a first-team All-American Athletic Conference selection that season as well.
He was drafted by the Chiefs in the second round of the 2022 draft. He earned a starting role in 2023. He missed the last five games of the 2023 season, but has started every other game since the start of 2024. He has 148 solo tackles, 15 passes defended, three interceptions, and four tackles for a loss over his career.
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He was the fourth-highest-rated safety at PFF in 2025. A big area of improvement will be that he only missed his tackle 5.6 percent of the time. We will touch on that in the next section as well, though.
It is hard to see Cook not once again being one of the top safeties in the NFL. It comes as he will be replacing what I will refer to nicely as a poor fit with Geno Stone. Stone was meant to be a ball hawk and create turnovers. Instead, he was a liability at tackling, which Cook is pretty much the opposite of.
Cook is still a great coverage safety. PFF had him ranked as the sixth-highest-rated safety in coverage last year. What Cincinnati fans will notice more of is his ability to get ball carriers down in the open field, which was a rarity among most defenders last season.
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The underrated aspect Cook should bring is leadership to the defensive side of the ball. He is a guy who has been to the top of the mountain and knows how a championship-winning defense prepares. It is certainly an aspect that side of the ball has needed a bit more of the past couple of years.
I mean, sometimes it is that simple: Cook is a premier player at his position. It was a huge position of need for the Bengals. It was a perfect match, and it should play out well for both parties.
