The Bengals have announced a pair of cuts, confirming today (via Twitter) that they’ve let go of defensive lineman Robert Geathers and wide receiver Greg Little. Because both players have at least four accrued NFL seasons, they won’t need to pass through waivers, and will immediately become free agents.
Cincinnati’s release of Little won’t create any real cap savings, since the former Brown had been on a minimum-salary contract. However, the club will save $3.05MM in cap room due to the release of Geathers. The veteran defensive end had been slated to earn a $2.85MM base salary, along with a $200K workout bonus, with no dead money on his contract for 2015.
Little, 25, was cut by the Browns last offseason, and though he initially landed in Oakland, the Raiders didn’t find room for the former second-round pick on their regular-season roster. Little signed with the Bengals in October, but despite injuries to A.J. Green and Marvin Jones, the UNC couldn’t carve out much playing time in Cincinnati — he finished the year with just six catches on 12 targets, for a total of 69 yards.
As for Geathers, he becomes the latest long-tenured player to receive his walking papers this week, on the heels of players like A.J. Hawk and Todd Herremans being informed of their respective releases. Having initially joined the Bengals as a fourth-round pick in 2004, Geathers played 152 games for the franchise over the last 11 years, but hasn’t been a starter since the 2012 campaign. Cutting the 31-year-old prior to this year’s free agent period should give him a head start to try to latch on with another club.