NFL Free Agency: Vonn Bell signs one-year deal with Cincinnati Bengals

Following a one-year hiatus away from Cincinnati, safety Vonn Bell has agreed to return to the Bengals on a one-year contract for the upcoming 2024-25 NFL season.

NFL insider Ian Rapoport had the news, which came straight from Bell’s representation. Here was his tweet announcing the deal:

“The Bengals are bringing back S and captain Vonn Bell, per agent @davidcanter. He gets a 1-year, $6M fully guaranteed deal.”

Prior to signing on in Carolina last offseason, Bell enjoyed a successful stint in Cincinnati as one of the backbones of the defense in the secondary when the Bengals made runs to both the 2022 Super Bowl and the 2023 AFC Championship. Without him and star partner Jessie Bates III in the defensive backfield, Cincy dropped off on defense significantly in 2023-24.

However, with Bell clearing more than $13 million in guarantees from the Panthers contract over this past season, which he was released from, he hit the market without needing to cash in on a bigger long-term deal and instead signed for just one year and $6 million.

That $6 million isn’t a number the Bengals are paying, either. With the guarantees Carolina made to Bell on his contract last offseason, Cincinnati was able to sign Bell for the veteran minimum ($1,210,000) while the Panthers pay out the rest of the contract, ($4,790,000) to make it an even $6 million.

More on the 2024 NFL offseason, free agency

The NFL 2024 calendar year begins at 4 p.m. ET on March 13. At that time, contracts running through 2023 officially run out, making those players free agents. Prior to the beginning of free agency, teams will have a chance to designate one franchise or transition tag player, starting on Feb. 20 at 4 p.m. ET and ending on March 5. Beginning March 11 through March 13 teams can enter into a legal negotiation with players who are set to become unrestricted free agents.

In addition to NFL free agency, the new year also marks the beginning of all trades being made official by the league office. April 19 marks the deadline to sign restricted free agents to offer sheets. On April 24, the deadline for teams to match restricted free agent offers sheets hits. Following the restricted free agent deadline follows the 2024 NFL Draft, which runs from April 25-27.

More on restricted, exclusive rights free agents

Players with only three years of accredited NFL experience become restricted free agents. Their original team will have the option to apply first-round, second-round, original-round, and right-of-fight-of-first-refusal tenders on players at escalating price tags. The higher the round, the more expensive the tender amount; however, if a separate team does offer a contract and the original team does not match that round pick will be conveyed from the new team to the original team. Right of first refusal only gives a team the option to match or not. If they don’t match, they get nothing in return. An original-round tender would send a draft pick from whatever round the player was drafted back to the original team if they chose not to match. The original team will have five days to match once a player signs an offer sheet from a new team.