Al Golden agreed to return to the Cincinnati Bengals on Wednesday after three seasons as Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator.

The Bengals have finalized an agreement to make Al Golden their next defensive coordinator. They're also hiring Jerry Montgomery to be their defensive line coach according to Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic.

The Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator job has been open for more than two weeks now, but there hasn't been much movement on a possible hiring and now we know why: The team was waiting for Notre Dame to finish its season.

The Cincinnati Bengals enter draft season early again for the second consecutive year. The orange and black have plenty of needs on both sides and how they address free agency will dictate their direction in the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay.

Cincinnati needed to play defense throughout the season as if they were playing the Chiefs every week, whom Lou Anarumo always seemed to have his defense prepared to play. Four his six defenses finished in the bottom third of the NFL in scoring defense,