HEADLINES

Larry Brooks

Bengals Reduce Roster To 53, Place T La’el Collins On Reserve/PUP List

August 29th, 2023 at 4:23pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Bengals have worked their way down to the 53-man roster limit. Here are the moves made on Tuesday to finalize their initial squad:

Released:

Waived:

Placed on reserve/PUP list:

Placed on IR:

Collins will miss at least the first four weeks of the season given his PUP designation. The former Cowboy signed a three-year, $21MM deal in free agency last offseason to operate as Cincinnati’s right tackle starter. His play in his debut season was underwhelming, however, and that role will belong to Jonah Williams this season, unless the latter misses time or Collins usurps him on the depth chart. A knee injury is to blame for Collins’ missed time, per the team.

Both Pesefea and Tell will miss the entire season, as is the case for all players placed on IR before being named to the initial 53-man roster. They will either remain with the organization during the campaign, or be released via an injury settlement which would allow them to find a new opportunity elsewhere.

Jones represents a more experienced cut than most of the other players let go. The former second-rounder has 57 games and 27 starts to his name, and he split his time between the Seahawks and Raiders last season. Moving on from Jones further signals the team’s intention of relying on younger options like Cam Taylor-Britt and rookies DJ Turner and DJ Ivey in the secondary.

Losing Adeniji (unless he clears waivers and is retained via the practice squad, as will no doubt be the case for many of the players listed above) would leave the Bengals thin along the O-line, especially in light of the Collins news. The 2020 sixth-rounder has experience at multiple positions up front, but his level of play has been a contributing factor in the team’s urgency in pursuing free agent blockers in recent years.

Bengals Add 13 UDFAs

May 13th, 2023 at 9:12am CST by Ben Levine

After making eight picks during the draft, the Bengals announced yesterday that they’ve added 13 undrafted free agents:

Jaxson Kirkland is one of the most intriguing UDFAs in the NFL. He considered declaring for both of the previous two drafts, and he was considered a top OT prospect for the 2022 selection show. However, a severe ankle injury forced him to opt out of that draft, and despite being productive during another season at Washington, he ended up going undrafted this year. The lineman’s versatility could make him an interesting piece on Cincinnati’s depth chart.

Despite adding Chase Brown in the draft, the Bengals still added a pair of RBs in free agency. Jacob Saylors starred at ETSU, finishing his 2022 season with 1,355 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns. Calvin Tyler Jr. also had a productive final two seasons at Utah State, scoring 15 total touchdowns. The Bengals could give a long look at each of these rookies to be the primary backup to Joe Mixon.

If Cincinnati does eventually look to break up their trio of top wideouts, they’d be looking for inexpensive reinforcement elsewhere. The team used a pair of draft picks on wide receivers, but they also added three UDFAs at the position. Mac Hippenhammer was the most productive of the undrafted grouping; he had 1,555 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns over the past two seasons for Miami of Ohio.