Fresh Cincinnati Bengals Addition Bryan Cook Officially Signs New Contract

CINCINNATI — The Bengals officially introduced Bryan Cook to the media on Thursday to boost the safety position on Al Golden's defense.

Cook, 26, joins the team as one of the surest tacklers in the NFL after signing a three-year, $40.25 million contract to return to his hometown.

Officially Signed

Dec 21, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Kansas City Chiefs safety Bryan Cook (6) runs to the field against the Tennessee Titans during pre-game warmups at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

He is coming off a career-high 83.5 Pro Football Focus grade this past season on 857 snaps. Cook notched 50 tackles and six pass breakups across the full campaign. He's a Cincinnati native and attended Mount Healthy High School.

Cook is the type of player Golden wanted to add to his secondary.

“We’re looking for versatility,” Golden said about the safety position at the 2026 NFL Combine. “I love versatility in our system, in our program, and especially if you can do it without substitution. That’s what makes you dangerous. We’ll see where we go here in terms of identifying those things, but you have complete faith in Zac and Duke and what we’re going to acquire here in the next month.”

Cook fits the leader role Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin talked about at last month's NFL Combine.

“To be a leader, though, you gotta have skin in the game, and you gotta play effectively," Tobin said. "And the rest of your teammates have to know that you are producing at a high level. It's hard to lead when you're not out on the field or when you're not producing well. So the first trait of a good leader is production, which is actually producing in a way that everyone respects and wants to mimic. So you have to have that. And then you have to have the outward charisma. And you've also gotta be willing to have tough conversations with people.

"And so finding leaders sounds easy, but there are a lot of components that go into that. And there are a lot of different leadership styles that can work. And I think we've got some inside of our own building that'll continue to evolve and grow in those roles. And then if we can find some ready-made guys who have the skins on the wall that come in and help us in those areas, that'll be good.”

Check out Cook signing his new deal below:

Home. pic.twitter.com/RBA5muZZkf
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) March 12, 2026

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