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Joey Bosa, DJ Reader still seem like logical Bengals free-agent ideas
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- Joey Bosa, DJ Reader still seem like logical Bengals free-agent ideas
The Cincinnati Bengals logically fit as a team that will get active in NFL free agency once again after the NFL draft concludes.
Much of how the Bengals will navigate the post-draft market will hinge on the picks they do make. If they don’t draft an interior defensive lineman, for example, old friend DJ Reader is still out there.
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If the Bengals don’t get an edge rusher early in the draft, names like Joey Bosa , Cam Jordan and Jadeveon Clowney are still out there and viable candidates, too.
As we’ve written multiple times now, BJ Hill’s recent social media teases about a Bengals move are less likely to be about a trade for Dexter Lawrence and far more likely to be about a reunion with Reader.
The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr. recently commented on this during an episode of The Growler podcast .
In regards to Hill’s tweets, Dehner said the following: “That could certainly be a DJ Reader reference.”
Later, Dehner proposed a signing, making a few logical connections: “Joey Bosa, he’s out there, he’s 31. He’s hanging out with Burrow and Hubbard at the Bosa wedding.”
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The Bengals have reversed course on their no 30 year olds in this building habits of the past over the last few years. Reader is aging now, but he’d be a nice depth piece to push TJ Slaton and, of course, veteran leadership. They already signed 31-year-old Jonathan Allen for the interior of the line, too.
Bosa is more of just a fun idea. But he’s also 31 and his very public friendship with Burrow is well known. If he’s waiting on a contender to give him a ring, it could very well be a Bengals team that went first-round cornerback, safety or linebacker and still wants to deepen its pass-rushing rotation.
This is the Burrow-era reality of the modern Bengals: The “big” names in free agency want to play for them. The connect-the-dots game with them makes more sense than ever.
The Bengals’ free-agency moves before the draft, the draft class itself, and then a combo Reader-Bosa signing, or something similar, would be popular and give them guaranteed defensive upgrades going into 2026.
This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Joey Bosa, DJ Reader still seem like logical Bengals free-agent ideas
