Geno Stone's new contract establishes his immediate future, but the Bengals can still add heat to his seat
The Cincinnati Bengals have reworked another contract for a free agent they signed last year. Per Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com, Bengals safety Geno Stone has agreed to contract adjustment that will effectively reduce his 2025 salary by $1.575 million while also guaranteeing him $1.5 million in the process. Stone signed a two-year, $14 million deal with Cincinnati last […]
The Cincinnati Bengals have reworked another contract for a free agent they signed last year.
Per Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com, Bengals safety Geno Stone has agreed to contract adjustment that will effectively reduce his 2025 salary by $1.575 million while also guaranteeing him $1.5 million in the process.
Stone signed a two-year, $14 million deal with Cincinnati last offseason as an unrestricted free agent. The deal would've originally paid him a base salary of $6.075 million this season and $400,000 worth of per game roster bonuses and workout bonuses were on the table to be earned as well. His new deal features a base salary of $3 million with those same potential bonuses, and $1.5 million has effectively been added on as a signing bonus.
In a nutshell, Stone lost a little over $3 million that would've been paid to him during the season, but recuperated about half of that with immediate cash. The added guaranteed money also makes it more costly to cut Stone, so this adjustment actually helps Stone stick around for 2025. He's still scheduled to enter free agency in 2026.
Geno Stone new contract details
| YEAR | BASE SALARY | CASH FIGURE | CAP FIGURE | DEAD CAP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
ORIGINAL (2024) | $6,075,000 | $6,475,000 | $7,975,000 | $1,500,000 |
NEW (2025) | $3,000,000 | $4,900,000 | $6,400,000 | $3,000,000 |
This move is very similar to what the Bengals recently conducted with running back Zack Moss, another free agent signing from 2024. Moss took a pay cut of $1.775 million leading up to the 2025 NFL Draft. His new contract now reflects his role of a reserve behind starter Chase Brown if he were to make the 53-man roster.
The question for Stone is whether or not he'll take on a new role as well.
Why the Bengals reworked Geno Stone's contract
The Bengals reworking contracts is still relatively uncommon practice for the club. Joe Mixon agreed to a pay cut back in 2023, and Moss did the same just a couple weeks ago. In both cases, the front office wanted to keep the players on the roster without paying them their originally agreed upon salaries due to performance and/or incoming usage decline.
Stone's case seems to fall into the performance category. Despite ending the year on a high-note with four interceptions during the club's five-game win streak to close out 2024, Stone struggled often during his first season in Cincinnati and was a liability during losses that impacted the team's playoff hopes.
Cutting his pay could simply be a reflection of how they view him as a player, but the Bengals do not need extra salary cap space (or cash) by any means. This move bumps them up to $26,664,869 in space with 78 rostered players. Over a dozen more will join the team shortly when college free agency is finalized, but they will hardly make a dent due to the top-51 offseason rule in which only the top-51 cap hits count before 53-man rosters are set.
Cutting Stone's pay to reflect how they view him as a player is the most likely reason why the Bengals reworked his contract. The only alternative is to facilitate subsequent moves that would eat some, if not all, the space that was created.
Will the Bengals add a safety?
There was an expectation for the Bengals to select a safety in the draft. Six picks later, the position group is unchanged. After the draft is when veteran free agency picks up ever so slightly for older veterans who remained unsigned in the hopes of finding a team that still needs to fill roster holes at their position.
Cincinnati could add a free agent safety to compensate for ignoring the position in the draft, but the manner in which they adjusted Stone's contract indicates they're looking for a specific caliber of safety. Justin Simmons seems unlikely as his price tag is likely the same if not greater than Stone and a player with his resume couldn't be blamed for wanting to immediately start over Stone. The Bengals could've simply released Stone altogether to facilitate that move.
Keeping Stone around means he'll at least be given a fair shot to maintain his starting status, but a possible competitor to Stone with a history of playing special teams seems very much on the table. K'Von Wallace (1,034 career special teams snaps), Ronnie Harrison (681), John Johnson (665), Julian Blackmon (385), and Jordan Whitehead (338) are all under the age of 30 and fit the bill more than the likes of Simmons.
When it came to Moss, the Bengals drafted a running back in Tahj Brooks not long after reworking his deal. There's much more clarity with that position compared to the one Stone still headlines. Cincinnati could roll with Stone at a price more fitting to the player, or use the money they saved to add another body to the room like some in the building hoped the draft would've provided.
No matter what they do from here, Stone should still be viewed as the likely starter next to Jordan Battle in the back of the secondary. Whether a competitor gets thrown into the equations is a matter of willingness from the front office.
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