The Bengals have finished signing their 2015 draft class, announcing today (via Twitter) that they’ve signed first-round offensive tackle Cedric Ogbuehi to his rookie contract. Ogbuehi was the last of nine Bengals draftees to ink his deal.
According to Over The Cap’s data, Ogbuehi’s four-year contract will have a total value of about $9.326MM, with a signing bonus worth approximately $5.042MM. The deal, which will also feature a fifth-year option for the 2019 season, likely won’t quite be fully guaranteed, since most players selected late in the first round don’t get full guarantees. The Bengals grabbed the Texas A&M lineman with the 21st overall pick back in April.
The Bengals’ draft was heavy on offensive lineman at the top, as Cincinnati used its second-round pick on former Oregon tackle Jake Fisher after having added Ogbuehi. While they could very well be the Bengals’ long-term solutions on either side of the offensive line, Ogbuehi and Fisher will have to contend in 2015 with veterans Andrew Whitworth and Andre Smith, who won’t be eager to surrender their starting spots. Whitworth and Smith are both eligible for unrestricted free agency in 2016.
I wrote yesterday that 25 players from 2015’s draft class remained unsigned. Since then, three offensive linemen – Ogbuehi, Lions first-rounder Laken Tomlinson, and Buccaneers second-rounder Ali Marpet – have been locked up by their respective teams, leaving just 22 draftees still to sign.