Bengals aren’t shying away from key need at NFL combine

The Cincinnati Bengals at the NFL combine have eyes on a rookie defensive class that they hope will help turn around one of the NFL’s worst units from last year. 

But veteran free agents are on the minds of the Bengals, too.

Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden made that clear enough early in the week while talking with reporters. Some of his commentary focused on getting veteran names in the linebacker room. 

"We've got to get better. We've got to get deeper," Golden said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. "Obviously, having somebody with a combo presence. I would prefer not to ask Demetrius to play on the line of scrimmage as much as we did. There will be times when he does do that. But I would prefer to add another piece and have that veteran wisdom and all those things."

The Bengals mildly attacked linebacker last year in free agency and it blew up in their faces. Oren Burks was a bust of a signing and Logan Wilson turned around and asked for a trade. That left them with no options beyond rookies Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter. 

Knight and Barrett showed some small improvements near the end of the season, but it’s clear the Bengals and Golden want to mix up their usage a bit and get veteran voices in the room. 

Notable linebackers headed to free agency include Devin Lloyd at the top of the market, as well as names like Leo Chenal and Bobby Wagner.

This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Bengals target free-agent LB help, NFL combine talks reveal