Bengals Signing Playmaker at Safety to Bolster Secondary

The Bengals are signing Safety Kyle Dugger to a one-year contract, per multiple sources. Adam Schefter first broke the news via X.

At the age 30, Dugger has a consistent track record of making big plays both with the Patriots for the first part of his career, and part of last season when he was traded to the Steelers, including a pick-six against Joe Flacco and the Bengals last season.

KYLE DUGGER WITH THE 74-YD PICK-SIX 😯

(via @steelers) pic.twitter.com/AI2LfMxBcQ
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) November 16, 2025

He Brings Versatility To The Bengals Secondary

Dugger instantly becomes the Bengals' most versatile safety with proven ability to shift to the slot and linebacker and make big plays on the ball. He has appeared in 90 total games during his career and totaled 318 solo tackles during that span, with a missed tackle percentage of 11.9%, along with 11 career interceptions and three forced fumbles with two recoveries, scoring three times in his career off of turnovers.

Dugger joins Bryan Cook as new safeties to the Bengals secondary in a safety room that had only Jordan Battle, Daijahn Anthony, and PJ Jules under contract for 2026.

A depth piece like this can be the difference in a season for any team, and immediately adds a proven veteran alongside Cook to a Bengals safety unit that was arguably the worst in the NFL last year.

The Bengals and Al Golden will be counting on Dugger to be a capable chess piece on the defense as they look to improve in 2026 and shift their focus to the NFL draft, which now opens up the possibility of taking the best player available even more with this signing.

"I’m not going to say that anybody was the cause of our defensive fall this year. I’m not going to call out any of our players on that," Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin said at the 2026 NFL Combine. "The group has to play better as a whole. What we like in safeties is what everyone likes in safeties. You want instinctive guys who see the big picture. They have to have speed to cover. If they can cover in man, that really opens up a lot of opportunities for you. They have to be willing to tackle in the box. They have to be a good open-field tackler. The more space you create with those guys, the tougher the tackles get. And there are no safeties in the NFL that don’t miss tackles.

"You just want to limit those exposures to where they have the big gap to make up. But space causes missed tackles more than anything. So spacing is important. That plays into some of the instincts and so forth that we really want to see in that position group. But those really factor in every position on defense. Defense is reacting to what the offense does. They don’t get to dictate all the time. And they’ve gotta see it, react to it, and play fast."

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