ESPN Rips Bengals for Jonathan Allen Move
Defensive tackle Jonathan Allen left the Minnesota Vikings this offseason, and fans largely shrugged, as the man posted a disappointing return on investment in 2025. Soon after, the Cincinnati Bengals pounced with a handsome free-agent contract — and ESPN believes that was a rotten idea.
The Allen deal is already drawing negative reviews from national outlets.
Seth Walder at that site recently assigned free-agency grades, and Allen to Cincy pulled down a ‘D.’
ESPN Takes Aim at CIN’s FA Move for Allen
Allen is no longer the Vikings’ problem.
ESPN: Allen to CIN Gets a ‘D’
Walder brought the hammer down on Cincinnati for the Allen move.
He wrote, “Grade: D. A year ago, I handed the Vikings a D+ for signing Allen to an expensive contract shortly after he had been cut by the Commanders, a deal that called for him to make $16.2 million in 2025 and fully guaranteed $8 million of his $17 million in cash due in 2026. Now this year, the Vikings cut Allen after a lackluster first season in Minnesota, and the Bengals are going to pick up some of the tab and then some.”
“Cincinnati needs to improve its defense, and I understand wanting more pass rush from its interior. B.J. Hill, T.J. Slaton and Kris Jenkins Jr. all had below-average pass rush win rates for a defensive tackle last season. But this is too much to pay for what will likely be too little.”
The Vikings also cut DT Javon Hargrave, who landed with the Green Bay Packers, and Walder gave that Green Bay move a ‘B-.’
Walder continued, “Allen was a very good defensive tackle earlier in his career. But the numbers clearly paint a picture of a 31-year-old player who is well into his decline. And I think the Bengals are overpaying him based on what he did several years ago. There’s another wrinkle here that affects Allen’s old team.”
“Though the Vikings had guaranteed $8 million of Allen’s 2026 money, the defensive tackle had offset language in that deal. Which means that the Vikings could receive a cap credit at the end of the season for whatever the Bengals pay Allen in 2026. While we don’t know the structure of the deal yet, that could be a nice break for Minnesota.”
Helping the Vikings by Subtraction
And that tidbit for Walder is exactly how it sounds. The Vikings signed Allen for $51 million over three years last offseason, but he didn’t quite live up to that price tag. Faced with a complicated salary cap situation in 2026, Minnesota decided to release Allen and forego the financial penalty.
As it turned out, the juice didn’t hurt as much as initially thought. Our Sean Borman explained last week, “Confirmed: The Vikings are set to be completely off the hook for Jonathan Allen’s $8M guarantee in 2026. With the Bengals giving Allen more than $8M cash, the full offset kicks in. Minnesota avoids the $8M cash payout and banks an $8M cap credit for 2027.”
“Big accounting win for Rob Brzezinski and the Vikings. Not only is the Allen offset confirmed, but the Vikings are also fully cleared on Javon Hargrave’s $4M guarantee now that he’s getting $13M in 2026 cash from Green Bay. That’s $12M total in future cap credits banked between the two of them.”
Minnesota will presumably get younger at defensive tackle, while saving money on next year’s salary cap.
Allen in 2025
Allen’s Pro Football Focus grade of 53.2 in 2025 reflected his struggles against the run (45.4) and only adequate pass-rushing ability (64.9). Despite this low mark, his overall production seemed decent: Allen ranked 6th among defensive tackles in total tackles, 10th in stops, 11th in quarterback hits, 25th in sacks, and 27th in total pressures.
This discrepancy raises questions about whether Brian Flores’ defensive scheme truly maximizes the performance of defensive tackles, even with the success of players like Jalen Redmond (Minnesota) and Christian Wilkins (Miami). Hargrave, Allen’s former teammate in Minnesota, advanced the theory via retweet earlier this month, insinuating that Flores’s scheme is not advantageous to interior defensive linemen.
Allen will get a chance to re-prove himself in Cincinnati. So will Hargrave in Green Bay.
A New DT Incoming for MIN?
Most believe the Vikings will sign or draft a defensive tackle to replace Allen and Hargrave in the next month. From the draft, these options can be considered fair game for Minnesota before the end of Round 4 (picks in Round 5 or later are usually crapshoots):
- Peter Woods (Clemson)
- Kayden McDonald (Ohio State)
- Caleb Banks (Florida)
- Lee Hunter (Texas Tech)
- Christen Miller (Georgia)
- Domonique Orange (Iowa State)
- Gracen Halton (Oklahoma)
- Darrell Jackson Jr. (Florida State)
- Dontay Corleone (Cincinnati)
- Xzavion Harris (Mississippi)
- Zane Durant (Penn State)
- Chris McClellan (Missouri)
- DeMonte Capehart (Clemson)
- Kaleb Proctor (Southeastern Louisiana)
- Tim Keenan III (Alabama)
- Rayshaun Benny (Michigan)
And if Minnesota somehow strikes out at DT early in the draft — it shouldn’t, as it has nine total picks this go-round — the free-agent market looks like this as of late March:
- Calais Campbell
- DaQuan Jones
- Larry Ogunjobi
- Levi Onwuzurike
- Rakeem Nunez-Roches
- D.J. Reader
- Christian Wilkins
A recent report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter suggested that 26 teams have contacted Wilkins about a 2026 contract, and if so, the Vikings should be at the top of the list because of Flores’s Miami connection to Wilkins and his need for a DT after Allen’s departure.
Allen will turn 32 during the playoffs next year. The Bengals are expected to win 9.5 games in 2026.
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