{"id":277656,"date":"2026-04-21T14:49:02","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T18:49:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=277656"},"modified":"2026-04-21T14:49:02","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T18:49:02","slug":"bengals-announce-new-numbers-for-12-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/04\/21\/bengals-announce-new-numbers-for-12-players\/","title":{"rendered":"Bengals Announce New Numbers for 12 Players"},"content":{"rendered":"

To this point in the offseason, the Cincinnati Bengals have been mum on what numbers each of the new free agent acquisitions would be wearing. Now, in the wake of the Dexter Lawrence trade<\/a>, the team has announced new numbers for each of its free agent signings as well as four established players.<\/p>\n

Bengals Announce New Numbers for 12 Players<\/h2>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n

DJ Turner: 0<\/h3>\n

DJ Turner<\/a> is an established star for the Bengals to this point in his career. He broke out in a massive way and had a Pro Bowl-worthy season last year with 40 tackles, two tackles for loss, two interceptions, 18 forced fumbles, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery.<\/p>\n

Turner will make history as the first Bengal to ever wear the number zero jersey. Should this indicate the team is looking to finalize an extension?<\/p>\n

Bryan Cook: 6<\/h3>\n

Coming over from Kansas City, Bryan Cook<\/a> was a big signing that should make the safety position less of a liability. In four seasons with Kansas City, Cook started 47 games and hauled in three interceptions while breaking up 15 passes. He’s a much better tackler than the Bengals have had back there lately, and brings with him 238 total tackles.<\/p>\n

Cook will be the fifth Bengal to rock the number six. However, it’ll be the first time a defensive player will do so, joining two quarterbacks, a punter, and a flanker. Jake Browning<\/a> was the last one to wear it as recently as last year.<\/p>\n

Josh Johnson: 11<\/h3>\n

The last time Josh Johnson<\/a> suited up for the Bengals, he wore the number eight jersey. For his second time around, he will switch to 11, the number he wore with Tampa Bay and San Francisco.<\/p>\n

To this point, the best player to wear 11 for the Bengals was Virgin Carter. The most recent, however, was Brett Rypien<\/a> last season.<\/p>\n

Ja’Sir Taylor: 26<\/h3>\n

Ja’Sir Taylor<\/a> was a later addition to the defense, signing with the Bengals on April 2. He should be a depth piece and will likely battle for the slot corner position this fall, assuming the Bengals don’t draft one. He comes to Cincinnati with one interception and 15 pass breakups.<\/p>\n

Bobby Kemp<\/a> is the greatest former Bengal to rock the 26, but the most recent was Tycen Anderson<\/a> from 2023 through last year.<\/p>\n

Kyle Dugger: 29<\/h3>\n

Signing on the same day as Taylor was safety, Kyle Duggar. He should raise the floor of the safety room alongside Cook, and most recently played for the Steelers. In his career, he’s started 78 games and has 11 interceptions with 29 pass breakups.<\/p>\n

When Bengals fans see 29, they tend to think of Leon Hall<\/a>, who wore it from 2007 through 2015. Over the last four seasons, Cam Taylor-Britt<\/a> wore the 29 for the Bengals.<\/p>\n

Boye Mafe: 53<\/h3>\n

One of the splashes of free agency was Boye Mafe<\/a>. He spent all four of his seasons in the NFL with the Seahawks before signing a three-year, $60 million deal with the Bengals. He looks to be a player on the rise with 164 tackles, 24 tackles for loss, and 20 sacks thus far in his career.<\/p>\n

Bo Harris<\/a> wore 53 from 1975 through 1982, but the most recent Bengal in 53 was Brian Asamoah<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jordan Jefferson: 68<\/h3>\n

In three seasons in the NFL, Jordan Jefferson<\/a> has been with three different teams. The former fourth-rounder appeared in one game for the Bengals last year and did not record any counting stats.<\/p>\n

Kevin Zeitler<\/a> wore the jersey for five seasons as the franchise’s only first-round pick spent on a guard. Most recently, Josh Tupou<\/a> wore 68 from 2017 through 2023.<\/p>\n

Dohnte Meyers: 81<\/h3>\n

Dohnte Meyers is a practice squad player for the Bengals with no NFL appearances. He did play in the CFL over the last two seasons, recording 89 receptions for 1,405 yards and nine touchdowns in 19 games.<\/p>\n

A handful of Bengals have sported the 81 with Eddie Brown<\/a> and Carl Pickens<\/a> leading the way (plus that one season with Terrell Owens<\/a>). Most recently, Jermaine Burton<\/a> wore 81, who was let go midway through last year, his second season in the NFL.<\/p>\n

McKinnley Jackson: 91<\/h3>\n

McKinnley Jackson<\/a> is heading into his third season with the Bengals after being their third-round pick in 2024. To this point in his career, he’s appeared in 22 games with one start. He has 22 total tackles, two tackles for loss, and one sack.<\/p>\n

Robert Geathers<\/a> rocked the 91 from 2004 through 2014. Most recently, it was Trey Hendrickson<\/a>, who is now a member of the Baltimore Ravens.<\/p>\n

Jonathan Allen: 93<\/h3>\n

A former first-round pick, Jonathan Allen<\/a> has been around the block a few times. In nine seasons, he’s played for two teams (Washington for eight, Minnesota for one). In that time, he’s racked up 469 tackles, 67 tackles for loss, and 45.5 sacks with two Pro Bowl nods.<\/p>\n

The greatest Bengal to wear 93 was Michael Johnson<\/a> from 2009 through 2013, but the most recent one to do so was McKinnley Jackson. Allen and Jackson must have come to an understanding to make the latter switch numbers.<\/p>\n

Shemar Stewart: 94<\/h3>\n

Speaking of current players switching numbers in favor of incoming veterans, Sheamar Stewart will rock the 94 in his second season. As a rookie, the 17th overall pick appeared in eight games and managed 11 tackles, two tackles for loss, and one sack.<\/p>\n

A couple of Bengals legends have worn 94, led by Domata Peko<\/a> and Sam Hubbard<\/a>. Jordan Jefferson gave up his number from last year for Stewart.<\/p>\n

Dexter Lawrence: 97<\/h3>\n

Finally, the big splash. “Sexy Dexy.” The Bengals knew they had to improve the defense, and must have believed it couldn’t have done so with the 10th overall pick. Lawrence spent seven seasons with the New York Giants. In that time, he dominated with 341 tackles, 40 tackles for loss, and 30.5 sacks…as a nose tackle.\u00a0 He is a three-time Pro Bowler.<\/p>\n

97 is synonymous with Geno Atkins<\/a> in Cincinnati. Seems fitting a player of Lawrence’s caliber gets to don Atkins’ old number.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New players, new numbers! The Cincinnati Bengals have announced the new numbers for a dozen players for the 2026 season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4051,"featured_media":277726,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":true,"sfio_embed_code":"<\/smartframe-embed>","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,36,6431],"tags":[9095,34010,4752,9874,34606,10212,1532,34603,4555,6046,32526,33289],"class_list":["post-277656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bengals","category-nfl-news","category-nfl-teams","tag-boye-mafe","tag-bryan-cook","tag-dexter-lawrence","tag-dj-turner","tag-dohnte-meyers","tag-jasir-taylor","tag-jonathan-allen","tag-jordan-jefferson","tag-josh-johnson","tag-kyle-dugger","tag-mckinnley-jackson","tag-shemar-stewart"],"modified_by":"Drew Crabtree","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4051"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277656"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":277729,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277656\/revisions\/277729"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}