The Bengals are set to add two more names to their Ring of Honor today, and the field of candidates reads like a roll call of franchise history.
Cincinnati unveiled 12 former players eligible for nomination, with the latest group featuring a mix of longtime favorites and more recent standouts. The nominees are Geno Atkins, Jim Breech, James Brooks, Cris Collinsworth, Carlos Dunlap, David Fulcher, AJ Green, Leon Hall, Max Montoya, Bob Trumpy, Andrew Whitworth and Reggie Williams.
It’s a deep list, and the range tells the story. Breech, Brooks, Fulcher, Montoya and Trumpy are the kind of names older Bengals fans have heard for years. Green, Dunlap, Whitworth and Atkins, meanwhile, are names that still feel fresh to a lot of the modern fan base.
Today is the day the team finds out which two will get the nod.
The Bengals’ Ring of Honor was introduced in 2021, a move that marked the franchise’s first real step into formally honoring its past greats. The first four players enshrined were Anthony Munoz, Ken Riley, Ken Anderson and Paul Brown. Since then, eight more names have been added, including Boomer Esiason, Dave Lapham and Chad Johnson.
This year carries a little extra weight, too. It will be the last season in which two names are added, making the path even tighter beginning in 2027.
There’s plenty else happening around the Bengals as well. The team recently completed phase one of its Paycor Stadium renovations and upgrades as part of a $500M project, giving fans a look at the stadium changes underway.
On the field, one analyst pointed to two areas where Cincinnati lagged badly last season. “Bengals ranked #28 in pass block win rate last year,” he tweeted.
“Allowed #3 most pressure, #2 most non-blitz pressure, #7 shortest time-to-sack. RB runs in primary OL combo (Brown-Fairchild-Karras-Risner-Mims): 3.9 YPC, -0.09 EPA/rush, 12.8% stuff rate, 1.29 YBC/att, which rank (respectively): #26, #25, #4, #14.
“I think they can play better than this in 2026, but just rolling back 2025 would result in another bottom-10 result.”
And while the Bengals’ division rivals will always be part of the conversation, the question of the team’s biggest rival remains open enough to spark debate. Cincinnati has long had a strained relationship with the Ravens, Steelers and Browns, which comes with the territory in the AFC North.
Away from the stadium and roster talk, Chase Brown spent time in Middletown hosting a camp for kids. Brown told the group, “There’s so many times, no matter what you’re doing - you could be in school to become a doctor or a lawyer or an engineer - just don’t give up,” Brown said.
“When you give up, you’re not taking steps toward what you’re going to accomplish eventually. There were plenty of times when it felt like I wasn’t going to get drafted and when I was struggling in my first year to even get playing time.
There are so many bumps and turns in everyone’s journey, and the only thing you can do is trust the process because it’ll work out.”
In Other News...
Bengals Ring Of Honor Choice Will Hit Longtime Fans Hard
The Bengals are adding two more familiar names to their Ring of Honor this fall, a nod that should resonate with longtime fans who remember when the franchise was still building its identity. One was a four-time Pro Bowler who spent nearly a decade in Cincinnati before his playing days ended in 1977, while the other became one of the defining offensive players of the 1980s and early 90s, piling up the kind of production that still sits near the top of the team record book.
There is also a bittersweet edge to the announcement, because one of the honorees died in November and will be remembered in absentia when the ceremony arrives at Paycor Stadium. For a fan base that has watched generations of Bengals come and go, this is the sort of recognition that connects eras, honoring a tight end and a running back whose careers helped shape the franchise long before the current roster took the field. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Face An Uncomfortable Bobby Wagner Question At Linebacker
The Bengals linebacker room is still one of the more obvious places to look when evaluating how the roster is being built for the future, and Bobby Wagners name naturally enters the conversation because of what he still brings against the run. Cincinnati has young options in Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight Jr., but the contrast in experience and reliability is hard to ignore when the front office starts weighing short-term fixes against longer-term development.
Wagner also is not the kind of addition you make casually, especially for a team that has to keep an eye on how it wants to allocate money heading into 2026. A veteran of his stature would come with expectations, both in role and in cost, and that leaves the Bengals with an uncomfortable decision: whether to treat linebacker as a spot to patch now or a position they can afford to keep evaluating while the rest of the roster takes shape. [Read more 🡒]