Bengals hit with a nasty grade for signing player in ‘decline’

The Cincinnati Bengals hit on a big win with the free-agency signing of Jonathan Allen .

With one move, the Bengals grabbed some desperately-needed veteran leadership for a young defensive locker room still developing amid a dramatic rebuild.

They also appeared to hit on some much-needed pass-rushing juice from the interior.

But not everyone is a fan of the move.

Over at ESPN, Seth Walder actually hit the Bengals with a “D” grade for the signing:

“Allen was a very good defensive tackle earlier in his career. But the numbers clearly paint a picture of a 31-year-old player who is well into his decline. And I think the Bengals are overpaying him based on what he did several years ago.”

The Bengals understood this at signing, though. Allen got a two-year deal worth $25 million. But if they cut him as a post-June 1 release next offseason, they save $11.5 million . It’s structured the way they like and with guarantees they like, too.

On paper, the Bengals hope that Allen and BJ Hill, who should be 100 percent after he wasn’t last season, will keep each other fresh in a rotation. He’ll help mentor first-rounders like Myles Murphy and Shemar Stewart , too.

The Allen move, too, doesn’t stop the Bengals from adding more help to the rotation in the NFL draft, starting right at 10th overall.

Barring a complete disaster, the Bengals got much better than this grade with Allen, especially after focusing the big attention and dollars at edge and safety in Wave 1 of free agency.

This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Bengals hit with a nasty grade for signing player in ‘decline’