The Cincinnati Bengals have started to cut down their roster as the team prepares for the start of the 2026 season.
Training camp started up last week, and teams all over the league are undergoing roster crunches. Cincinnati is entering a crucial season, so the front office doesn't have time to mess around.
The Bengals have announced that they've waived safety Isaiah Nwokobia.
Nwokobia went undrafted in the 2026 NFL Draft before signing with Cincinnati as a free agent. The safety played his college football at Southern Methodist University, making the First-Team All-ACC roster in 2024.
Playing five seasons at SMU, Nwokobia established himself as one of the key pieces of the defense. In this time, he recorded 273 total tackles, including 12 for loss, 2.5 sacks, 11 interceptions, and one fumble recovery.
His 2024 season was his best, with Nwokobia posting 100 total tackles, 0.5 sacks, and three interceptions. Nwokobia was part of the SMU team that made a trip to the College Football Playoff.
While he didn't get drafted, Nwokobia can still latch on with another team. The safety is an adequate run support, but he does need to improve his finishing rate on pass-catchers.
The Bengals must have felt that they had plenty of depth at the position, with Nwokobia now looking for another job.
The Bengals have been picked by many around the NFL to be a sleeper team this season. After a strong offseason, Cincinnati has been generating a ton of hype coming into the year, including from some NFL experts.
With the Bengals adding to the defense this offseason, the sky is the limit for this group. Cincinnati has been held back by poor performances on the defensive side of the ball over the last few years, leading to them missing the playoffs.
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor is excited for the season to start, with him understanding how crucial a season 2026 is.
âWe know what it takes,â Taylor said . âWe know a lot of times why weâve failed and what we have to do to correct it. Maybe I was blind to things that havenât enabled us to have the seasons weâve had. You learn from that experience like anything. Iâm going to be a better coach five years from now than I am today.â
Taylor was on the hot seat entering the offseason, with the front office deciding to keep him for at least one more season. The coach is entering his eighth season as the leading man of the Bengals, but he's never had this type of pressure on him to win.
So if the Bengals can't right the ship this year, there could be major changes coming across multiple parts of the organization. Taylor owns a record of 52â63â1 as the head coach of the Bengals, with him having a 5-2 record in the playoffs, including taking this team to the Super Bowl in 2021.
The Bengals will be opening the season on Sept. 13 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at home.
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