Bengals receive confirmation of valuable information mere days before they can solve one of their biggest problems
The market price for free agent safeties has been set by the Los Angeles Rams and Kamren Curl
The Cincinnati Bengals will be looking for a new starting safety in free agency, and one potential option is off the board.
Kamren Curl is signing a three-year, $36 million contract extension to stay with the Los Angeles Rams.
Curl was scheduled to become a free agent, and could’ve talked to other teams in the tampering window starting Monday at 12:00 p.m. ET.
L.A. was able to get a deal done beforehand, and the numbers of the contract are now very important for Cincinnati and other clubs looking to sign a free agent safety.
Bengals now know what the market price for a quality safety will be in free agency
Curl signing ahead of free agency will impact what other comparable safeties can command on the open market, should they reach the open market.
The first player at a position to sign first, especially before other teams can negotiate with them, oftentimes leads them to getting the cheapest deal when the dust all settles. This will likely be the case with Curl, who chose to stay with the Rams over testing his market.
But as for the likes of Bryan Cook, Jaquan Brisker, Nick Cross, and other potential safety targets for the Bengals, they will be looking for, at the bare minimum, slightly more than what Curl is signing for.
Curl’s new Average Annual Value (AAV) of $12 million is the official floor for that caliber of safety; an above average starter in their mid-late 20s.
The price is now known, it’s simply a matter of whether or not Cincinnati will be willing to pay it.
Bengals safety contract history
The Bengals signed Geno Stone to a two-year deal worth $7 million per year back in 2024. That AAV would be equal to $8.255 million with this year’s salary cap. Vonn Bell was signed for $6 per year in 2020, which would be worth $9.12 million per year in 2026 dollars.
George Iloka’s five-year, $30 million contract from 2016 is the most expensive multi-year deal Cincinnati has ever signed to a safety when adjusted for cap inflation. That deal’s AAV in 2026 would be $11.64 million.
Getting up to $12 million at minimum, for real this time, is what may be required for the Bengals to get their ideal safety in free agency.
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