Tyler Eifert will not be leaving Cincinnati. Instead, the Bengals will hang onto him via one-year deal, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
Injuries have limited Eifert for much of his career, but when he’s been available, he’s been one of the NFL’s top red zone threats. The Bengals appear to be keen on seeing if their former first-round pick can stay healthy.
Entering his age-28 season, Eifert has missed 41 of a possible 80 regular-season games since coming to Cincinnati. He missed 14 games last season and eight in 2016. But his 2015 work likely garnered him this opportunity from the continuity-centric organization. Eifert amassed 615 air yards and scored 13 touchdowns — the most by any tight end that season. And Eifert missed three games that year.
Doctors cleared Eifert to resume work a few weeks ago after his October back surgery, however. But the Bengals weren’t showing much interest in retaining their injury-prone pass-catcher at that point. Now, one of the top tight ends (ability-wise) is off the market.
While Eifert’s injury trouble may make it difficult for any team to count on him in the near future, or if he’s back on the market a year from now, he’ll have another chance to show the kind of ability he did three years ago. This season figures to be crucial for the Notre Dame product through that lens.
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