Xavien Howard wants to play for a contender; Mike Hilton pushes for the Bengals

Mike Hilton is already working his magic.

The Cincinnati Bengals have addressed most of their major needs in free agency already. They brought in a tight end, defensive tackle, and right tackle, but the work isn’t done. The Bengals still need to add depth at several positions, but they especially need to add a nose tackle and add depth at cornerback.

When it comes to cornerback, the Bengals have Cam Taylor-Britt, DJ Turner, and Mike Hilton, which is a pretty good core group, but there isn’t a standout option for CB4 on the roster. Jalen Davis has been a good slot backup, Allan George is a practice squad corner, and DJ Ivey has shown some potential in camp but not enough to trust him to take over a starting spot should an injury occur.

There is Dax Hill, but we really don’t know how Lou Anarumo’s going to use his 2022 first-round pick.

The Bengals love corners in the first round, but another option could be by taking a dip back in the free agent pool and convince the recently-released Xavien Howard to come to Cincinnati (if Hilton hasn’t already done it).

Howard is looking to win a Super Bowl, and the Bengals are one of the few teams who can truly call themselves contenders. The Bengals would start Howard opposite CTB with Hilton in the slot as Turner becomes a very strong CB4 and rotational corner to keep everyone fresh throughout the season. On top of all that, Paul Dehner Jr. points out that Anarumo was a defensive backs coach for the Dolphins early in Howard’s career, so the two already have a relationship.

Howard signed a five-year, $90 million contract with $36.3 fully guaranteed prior to the 2022 season. He was an All-Pro in 2018 (second team) and in 2020 (first team) and has been named to the Pro Bowl four times. He’s also a two-time NFL interceptions leader.

At age 30, he is looking to add a Super Bowl to what he hopes is a Hall of Fame resume. The Bengals are just as good a team as any to get him what he wants.