The Bengals took plenty of heat last season when they sent linebacker and captain Logan Wilson out of town in the middle of a defense that was already falling apart. Cincinnati leaned hard on rookies Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter after that, and the early returns were ugly.
Now, though, that move looks a whole lot better for the Bengals.
Wilson retired, and the seventh-round pick Cincinnati got from the Dallas Cowboys - No. 221 overall - turned into Texas tight end Jack Endries. That’s the kind of return that can change the way a trade looks in a hurry, and Sunday’s 53-man roster reveal only sharpened the picture: Endries made the Bengals’ 2026 roster.
He didn’t just hang on by a thread, either.
Endries had already flashed in the preseason opener, making it obvious he could handle NFL speed. He caught a 4-yard touchdown from Joe Flacco in Cincinnati’s 16-14 preseason win over the Detroit Lions, and he looked right at home doing it. That shouldn’t have shocked anyone who watched him work in college with Fernando Mendoza and Arch Manning.
The bigger question now is how quickly Endries can matter once the games count for real. Joe Burrow could be throwing to him this season, and it’s at least on the table.
Cincinnati’s tight end room leaves the door open. Drew Sample sits atop the depth chart, but he’s not much of a receiving threat.
Mike Gesicki is used more like a slot receiver than a traditional tight end. Erick All Jr. has the best shot to become the all-around TE1 if he can stay healthy, but Endries brings similar upside as a prospect, with an 8.87 RAS and a 66.6 PFF run blocking grade in 2025.
There’s also the matter of how Cincinnati wants to deploy its offense. With Dohnte Meyers rising quickly at receiver, the Bengals may lean even more on 11 personnel to keep Meyers, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins on the field together. That could squeeze the tight end rotation, especially if Gesicki’s role continues to take snaps away from others.
Still, Endries looks like a player who should work his way into the mix as a situational piece. The Bengals used their tight ends more in the passing game last season than most people probably realized, and Endries now has a real shot to benefit from that.
He may not jump everyone immediately, but he does not need to. If he can get past Hudson, he’d be lined up well to enter 2027 as at least the TE3, or the de facto TE2 behind Gesicki and All. Hudson and Sample are both out of contract after this season.
And with All’s injury history and Gesicki potentially becoming a cap casualty next offseason, Endries could wind up delivering even more value sooner than expected from that modest pick Cincinnati got in the Wilson deal.
For a player the Bengals received in exchange for someone who retired not long after, that’s a pretty strong outcome.
In Other News...
Cincinnati Heads Into Week 1 With One Big Readiness Test
Scott Satterfield spent part of his media session this week sorting through two of the bigger early-season questions for Cincinnati: how quickly DAngelo Hutchinson can get up to speed, and whether the Bearcats are truly ready for the first test of 2026. Hutchinson is still learning the system, but the staff sees enough versatility to believe he could help in multiple spots once he gets comfortable with the coverages, which is exactly the kind of mid-August development teams hope to find before the games count.
The opener against Boston College will offer the first real answer on how far along this group has come, and it comes with a little extra attention on JC French IV as he prepares for his first game at Nippert Stadium. For a team trying to establish itself right away, the quarterbacks energy and the defenses ability to absorb a new piece are both part of the same larger question: whether Cincinnati can look settled from the start or spend the early part of the night working through the kind of growing pains that usually show up in Week 1. [Read more 🡒]
Cincinnatis Quarterback Reset Now Carries Real Pressure For 2026
Scott Satterfield has moved quickly to give Cincinnati a fresh answer at quarterback, bringing in JC French IV from Georgia Southern through the NCAA transfer portal after Brendan Sorsbys departure. French arrives with a rsum that includes production both throwing and running the ball, and he also comes with some national buzz after being ranked 40th among FBS starting quarterbacks by Pro Football Sports Network. For a Bearcats team looking to stabilize the most important position on the field, that makes him more than just another portal add.
The pressure now shifts to how well French fits with a receiver room that has been reshaped around him. Cincinnati has brought in transfers Malachi Henry and JV Gibson, while Isaiah Johnson returns as a familiar target, giving the staff a mix of new and old pieces to work with. The parts are there for a cleaner transition, but with the quarterback spot under the microscope, the Bearcats are clearly expecting this reset to look like a step forward rather than another season of sorting things out. [Read more 🡒]