The Bengals’ roster may have been trimmed down, but the movement around the team is far from finished.
That’s the reality of the NFL’s cutdown period: getting to 53 players is only the first step. Teams still have practice squads to build, waiver claims to submit, and corresponding moves to make if they land someone off waivers. In other words, a player can survive the cut only to be out the door a day later, which might be the toughest part of all this.
For Cincinnati, one of the clearest needs right now is at swing tackle. The team released veteran offensive lineman Cody Ford, who handled that job last season, and head coach Zac Taylor made it clear what he wants from the next man up.
“Just trust that the backup tackle is going to go in and win the game, and we want to keep playing the way that we play. You’ve just got to be able to trust through the game.
And so, I think there’s probably a competition there.”
That search could point the Bengals toward a player with the kind of draft pedigree they tend to value. The source material notes that the team likes betting on pedigree, and that fits the profile of the player being discussed, who couldn’t make the Bears’ roster a year after being nearly a year removed from a knee injury.
There was also a notable bit of encouragement on the defensive side, where early returns from Dexter Lawrence are described as promising. As Montgomery told ESPN, “If he’s not making the play, it’s probably because there’s four hands on him.
If there’s four hands on him, there’s people running free. So now you have other guys making plays and then building confidence as a defense.”
The takeaway from that evaluation is simple: Lawrence has looked like a dominant interior rusher, and the source frames it as something that could turn into a revenge season for him.
Cincinnati also made a point of avoiding complacency at receiver during final roster cuts. The Bengals leaned into competition at the position all preseason, and that approach led to two players from last year’s Week 1 roster being moved out. It was a surprise to see Mitchell Tinsley and Charlie Jones cut, especially in Tinsley’s case, since the source suggests he should be able to catch on elsewhere and contribute.
Elsewhere around the league, the Packers placed running back Josh Jacobs on the commissioner exempt list. That means Jacobs will not count on the Packers’ 53-man roster and cannot practice or attend games.
He will still be paid and, with the team’s permission, can be at the facility for meetings, individual workouts, medical treatments and other non-football activities. The move comes as the NFL continues looking into his domestic violence case.
And on another front, Donald said, “To be honest with you, it was on and off for a little while, but I think I knew this decision about two weeks [ago],” Donald said. “I know the world was saying all types of things and nobody knew what was going on, but I kind of knew for two weeks.
I talked to Sean every single week, damn near every day. We stayed in contact.
I’d give him all my updates of how I was feeling, how things was going.
Around The NFL is tracking roster cuts across the league as teams move from Monday, Aug. 24, through the Aug. 30 deadline.
In Other News...
Bengals Practice Squad Decisions Just Put New Pressure On Roster Depth
After the waiver wire deadline passed, Cincinnati settled its 16-man practice squad and gave a clearer picture of how it wants to protect its depth heading into the season. The group includes Sean Clifford, Myles Hinton, Bralyn Lux, Kendall Milton and Russ Yeast, and it also reflects a front office still trying to build enough insurance around the roster for the long haul.
Hinton is the most notable addition from a depth standpoint after the Bengals claimed the second-year offensive tackle from Michigan off waivers to help shore up the tackle room. Beyond him, the practice squad is also a holding area for a few players who were part of the late-roster conversation, with some in line to help on special teams and others needing more time to develop before they can push for active-roster work. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Practice Squad Could Bring Back Familiar Faces And A Few Surprises
The Bengals have trimmed to their 53-man roster, and now the attention shifts to how Cincinnati fills out its practice squad. With a projected 16 spots available, the setup opens the door for some familiar faces to circle back if they clear waivers, along with a few names the staff could decide are worth keeping close as the season approaches.
The next day or so will sort out whether those released players can return, and whether the Bengals make any outside additions before the waiver deadline passes. It is the kind of roster shuffle that can quietly matter later in the year, especially for a team trying to preserve continuity while also leaving room for a surprise or two. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Just Took Another Painful Hit From The Jessie Bates Fallout
The Bengals roster shuffle took another sharp turn this week when McKinnley Jackson, a third-round compensatory pick in 2024, was waived after failing to crack the initial 53-man group. His path was already narrowing before the cut, with the trade for Dexter Lawrence and the signing of T.J. Slaton squeezing the room in the defensive interior and making every rep even more important.
Jacksons exit adds to the uneasy early return on Cincinnatis 2024 draft class, which has already seen several picks waived or fighting just to stay in the picture. For a team trying to stabilize its trenches and build around a few core veterans, the bigger concern is how quickly a young class can go from hope to uncertainty when the roster starts turning over this fast. [Read more 🡒]