Somewhere, in another, less fortunate, reality, the Cincinnati Bengals didn’t trade the No. 10 overall pick for the league’s premier nose tackle. In that universe, the Bengals possibly used that pick on Caleb Downs or Rueben Bain. In that universe, Slaton is the Bengals’ last hope to clog up the middle in hopes of recreating DJ Reader.
Luckily this isn’t that universe, but now the Bengals have the difficult task of figuring out which defensive tackles they can keep, and which ones they can’t.
Erick All Jr.
- Height: 6-5
- Weight: 340 lbs.
- Age: 28
- College: Florida
- Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- Experience: 6 years
Cap Status
The Bengals
signed Tadarrell Slaton to a two-year, $14.1 million contract, which including $5 million guaranteed. In 2026, he’s scheduled to earn a base salary of $5.72 million with a workout bonus of $100,000. His Cap hit of $9.160 million is 1.95% of the team’s cap.
They do have an out if they want to part ways with Slaton. If they cut him, there would be a dead cap hit of $2.5 million, but they’d save $6.66 million in the process. If they find themselves in more need of cash than nose tackles, Slaton could be on the outs.
Background
Slaton, a Florida native, spent his entire college career with the Gators. In 45 games (14 starts) with Florida, he recored 34 solo tackles (10 for loss), 3.5 sacks and a fumble recovery. The Packers saw fit to use their fifth-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft on him, and, in his time with Green Bay, he recorded 67 solo tackles, including two sacks. After his four years were up, he signed his two-year deal with Cincinnati.
In his single season with the Bengals so far, he recorded 19 solo tackles, including a surprising three sacks, and started all 18 games.
Outlook for 2026
As I stated earlier, in our universe, the Bengals did trade for Lawrence, and now the Bengals suddenly find themselves with more defensive tackles than they need or can realistically rostered. He’s not only joined by Lawrence, but Jonathan Allen, BJ Hill, Kris Jenkins, McKinnley Jackson, Jordan Jefferson, Howard Cross III and Landon Robinson.
The Bengals are likely going to cut at least two of of these guys, and you can bet it won’t be Lawrence, Allen or Hill. If it comes down to cost, they could see Jenkins and/or Jackson as more affordable (they’re both on their rookie contracts) over Slaton, even though Jackson couldn’t even break into the active roster for most of the 2025 season.
If money isn’t what drives their roster decisions as they head into training camp, having Slaton on the roster to keep Lawrence fresh, and to also have short-yardage packages with both clogging up running lanes next to each other.
