Report: Geno Stone to sign with the Bengals

The Ravens will have to see their 2023 interceptions leader twice a year for the next two seasons.

Despite the veteran safety market being saturated with former All-Pros and Pro Bowlers, former Baltimore Ravens safety Geno Stone managed to find a new home on the first day of the NFL’s legal tampering period. Unfortunately, it is still in the AFC North with their rival Cincinnati Bengals on a two-year deal worth $15 million with a signing bonus of $6 million according to a report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Stone is coming off a breakout 2023 season in which he led both the Ravens and the entire AFC with a career-high seven interceptions, the first of which came against the franchise quarterback of his new team in Week 2. In 17 games including 11 starts last season, he also set career highs in total tackles and pass deflections with 68 and nine respectively.

At the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine, Ravens General Manager Eric DeCosta called Stone “the best seventh-round pick” in franchise history. The team took him No. 219 overall out of Iowa in 2020 and he went from being released and brought back as a rookie to proving himself as a core special teams contributor and making the most of his extensive opportunities to play on defense the past two seasons in place of an injured Marcus Williams.

Stone will be joining a young safety group in Cincinnati that struggled mightily in 2023 after losing 2023 Pro Bowler Jessie Bates in free agency last offseason. He’ll be playing alongside 2022 first-rounder Dax Hill who is the brother of his former teammate in Baltimore, running back Justice Hill. His deal will likely net the Ravens a late-round compensatory pick in the 2025 NFL Draft depending on what the team does in free agency.