The legal tampering period opened Monday at noon ahead of free agency, which officially opens at 4 p.m. Wednesday with the start of the new league year.
Teams can’t officially sign pending free agent players until that time.
The 27-year-old Slaton was coming off his rookie deal with Green Bay, where he was drafted in the fifth round in 2021 and didn’t miss a game in four seasons. A two-year starter, Slaton won’t provide much in the interior pass rush, but has been known as a pure run stopper to pair with returning defensive tackle B.J. Hill, who agreed to terms on a new three-year deal Monday as well.
Slaton notably played under new Bengals defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery during his time with the Packers and could be a big part to the team’s rebuild on defense.
According to Pro Football Focus grades, Slaton ranked just 77th out of 99 qualifying defensive tackles in run defense last season, but he was 28th of 79 qualifying defensive tackles in 2023, and his PFF.com stop percentage ranked 26th in 2024 and 20th in 2023.
Slaton’s run-stop win rates, according to ESPN Stats, ranked him first last year and ninth in 2023.
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