Bengals’ Free Agent Deal With Jonathan Allen Facing Early Scrutiny

The Bengals took a chance on Jonathan Allen in free agency this year. Will it pay off for them?

Oct 6, 2024; Landover, Maryland, USA; Washington Commanders defensive tackle Jonathan Allen (93) celebrates after a tackle during the second quarter against the Cleveland Browns at NorthWest Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images | Peter Casey-Imagn Images

The Cincinnati Bengals came into free agency this offseason with some clear holes on their roster, but they dove into free agency to patch a few of these holes in a big way. They brought in a trio of talented defensive players with safety Bryan Cook, defensive tackle Jonathan Allen, and edge rusher Boye Mafe.

All three players will provide an immediate impact for the Bengals. Cook is going to be the most reliable safety in their secondary. Mafe is set to replace Trey Hendrickson and Joseph Ossai who left in free agency. Allen is going to be tasked with helping bolster a run defense that ranked dead last in the NFL last year. But not everybody is a fan of all of these moves.

Zoltan Buday of PFF recently put together a list of his favorite and least favorite signings for each team in the NFL. For the Bengals, Buday highlighted the Allen signing as his least favorite deal and shared some serious criticism of the signing.

Bengals Under Fire for Jonathan Allen Signing

Sep 29, 2024; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Washington Commanders defensive tackle Jonathan Allen (93) against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

"While Allen’s contract with the Bengals ranks 27th among interior defenders in average annual value, his production in recent seasons has been far below that level," Buday wrote. "He logged 75.0-plus PFF overall grades in all three seasons between 2020 and 2022 but has failed to surpass 60.0 in any of the three campaigns since. Last year marked the lowest grade of his career, as he ranked 84th among 127 qualifying interior defenders (53.2)."

If there was going to be a move to criticize for the Bengals, it would be the Allen signing. The additions of Mafe and Cook are almost unanimously seen as ideal additions.

Allen seems to be a bit overpaid for the production he's been putting up the last few years. His PFF grade has fallen over the past few years and the counting stats are lacking at this point, too.

Allen is a good leader and a quality human being. He filled a position of need for the Bengals, so everything about the deal isn't bad. But the Bengals did seem to pay him a bit more than he's worth at this point in his career.

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