The Bengals released defensive tackle Geno Atkins, head coach Zac Taylor announced. Atkins was due $12.2MM in non-guaranteed money, so the Bengals took the opportunity to wipe that from the books. In addition, the Bengals are also cutting quarterback Ryan Finley and offensive tackle Bobby Hart (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). All together, the moves will save the Bengals roughly $30MM in cap space.
Atkins fought through a shoulder injury throughout the season. Towards the end, it proved to be too much to play with. He suited up for just eight games in total, and, even when he was healthy, he wasn’t happy about his playing time. His final tally: zero sacks and zero starts. It was a sharp drop from his pre-extension season in 2017, when he finished out as Pro Football Focus’ No. 2 ranked interior defender. The Bengals could have had the perennial Pro Bowler under contract through 2022, but his $14.8MM cap hit for 2021 was too much.
Last year, he watched his longtime counterpart Carlos Dunlap — the No. 1 all-time Bengals sack leader — get shipped to the Seahawks. It’s now the 33-year-old’s turn to exit. He leaves with eight Pro Bowls to his credit and the second-highest sack total in franchise history.
Hart, whose release will yield ~$6MM in savings, was long rumored to be a cap casualty. And, with Riley Reiff in the mix, his services were no longer needed.
First snitches
Aging rapidly. If he will play for 1/4th that money he can still find a taker…..If he gets half that I’d be amazed.
Agree. But according to over the cap, if they wait till post June 1, it’s only 2.3 mill in dead money vs 5.2. Similarly, it would open 12.2 mill in cap space vs 9.5. So why the rush to do it now???
Not Bobby Hart?! I LOVED watching him wrestle. He always had something in his boot.
The rich get richer
Man if the Steelers weren’t in cap hell he’d be a nice pick up to go with Heyward and Tuitt
Thought the same thing!
Great … he will latch on with another AFC North team … likely Ravens.
North is right, if he is healthy I can see him landing in GB playing next to Kenny Clark & the smith Bros. Taking pressure off of him.
What if he does? He’s just another guy at this point of his career. It’s not like he’s Carlos, who only played hard when motivated; he’s always been a max effort guy and you see the results the last few years. He was amazing but now he’s just about done
PFF graded him at 81.8 in 2018 and 76.2 in 2019. If last year’s 54.0 was mainly due to his shoulder injury, he could still bounce back to that well above average level. Let’s see what he can do when he’s healthy.
Although I’d rather he didn’t show us in the NFC North.
I assume the pats will be poking around as well
Im thinking he’s heading to Dallas