Bengals Should Keep an Eye on This Defensive Leader During NFL Playoffs

It is even more clear that the Bengals will add to their defense this offseason following Duke Tobin's press conference on Friday. He acknowledged adding leaders on defense that could not only contribute, but help current ascending young players find their voice as leaders of the unit.

Tobin made that clear after he was asked what he feels the team is missing most. After discussing the in season adjustments made by the defense against the run and the growth in players such as Myles Murphy, he stated that the thing the defense currently needs from it’s young players is for somebody to take on a leadership role, even noting that it could be from somebody outside the team currently.

“The one thing we really need is we need those guys or somebody else to take on a leadership role and demand the accountability and demand the execution. We need more leadership. We have tons of leadership on the offensive side of the ball. We need somebody, multiple people, to step up and lead that group from within our team. And it could come from the outside and it could come from the inside.” Tobin said. “We can get improvement from both of those areas. We can get improvement and play from the inside, which I see happening, and we can get improvement from the outside, be it the draft or free agency or however we want to attack it.”

There are dozens of pending free agents on teams currently in the playoffs that could come in and bring a leadership mentality as well as championship mindset to the Bengals emerging young stars on defense, many of which we listed here for you to follow throughout the postseason and into free agency.

Possible Target

One player the Bengals could possibly target is Rams safety Kamren Curl.

Curl instantly would upgrade the safety position in Cincinnati. Across 1,112 snaps played at safety, Curl has missed seven tackles with a missed tackle percentage of only 5.4% during the 2025 regular season. Geno Stone missed 26 tackles and posted a missed tackle percentage of 20%.

This alone should be enough for the Bengals to consider adding Curl in March, but when you factor in how he led the secondary after Quentin Lakes injury in Week 11, he should be at the top of the list for potential free agent additions. Curl is a player that leads by example, is vocal when needed, and has even described himself as a natural leader.

Curl is set to turn 27 by the time free agency starts, and has all the signs of a future captain for a defense, and with the Rams having already re-signed Lake to be the captain of the secondary in LA long term, Curl could have the desire to bring that similar type of leadership to a needy defense, making Cincinnati the perfect fit.

The Bengals need to make an upgrade the safety position. With his ability to play at an average to an above-average level, as well as ability to uplift others, Curl could be the exact kind of addition that Tobin targets in free agency

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