Cincinnati Bengals Newest Signee Praises Joe Burrow in First Interview with Franchise

The Cincinnati Bengals are continuing to aggressively maneuver through the 2026 NFL offseason, as they are in pursuit of ending a three-year playoff absence. After making their two biggest acquisitions within the first four hours of the legal tampering period (former Seattle Seahawks defensive end Boye Mafe and former Kansas City Chiefs safety Bryan Cook), general manager Duke Tobin has been active in recruiting more players to help the lackluster defense from 2025. 

After losing defensive end Joseph Ossai to the New York Jets and 2024 Sack Leader Trey Hendrickson to a division rival, the Baltimore Ravens, it became clear very early that there would be several holes to fill. Starting with two former Super Bowl winners and adding other veterans, like former Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle Jonathan Allen, proved that Tobin and defensive coordinator Al Golden are looking for leaders to come in and make an immediate impact on the field. 

Thursday, Tobin continued down his path of adding experience to the young defense by signing former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Kyle Dugger. After spending five full seasons with the New England Patriots and becoming a starter, the former second-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft was traded midseason, before ultimately departing for Cincinnati just months later. 

In some of his first words after signing, the former Lenoir-Rhyne University Bear commented on his new superstar teammate, Joe Burrow, when asked about his initial thoughts on the team.

[The Bengals] offense is the first thing that comes to mind,” said Dugger. “Joe Burrow and I were in the same draft class, and I've seen the things he's done. He's one of the best quarterbacks I've played against, and their offense is one of the, if not the most talented, in the league.”

While fans have been pressing Cincinnati to build a better defense around Burrow and the superstar-studded offense, it seems their impact on the field is enough to attract free agents on the other side of the football. Defensive players want to be on the same sidelines as one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, and Tobin needs to continue to use this as a negotiation tactic.

Dugger has been playing while hurt over the last two seasons; he suffered an ankle injury when attempting to block a field goal in 2024, and ultimately went through surgery in the offseason. He wasn’t quite able to fully recover by the time the 2025 season rolled around, but he is excited and ready to return to form after having a full offseason to recover. 

Many have criticized the Bengals' front office for making passive deals to avoid losing money in the future, which hurts the team’s ability to add more talent in the present. It seemed that free agent signings would stall to a minimum at this point, considering Tobin front-loaded both Mafe and Cook’s contracts, making them some of the highest first-year cap hits in this year’s free agent class.