C.J. Uzomah’s decision to retire as a Bengal says plenty about where Cincinnati stands now.
Joe Burrow gets the biggest share of the credit for dragging the franchise into contender status, and he should. But when Burrow was coming back from a blown-out knee during his second season, the Bengals needed other voices in that room to carry the load. Uzomah was one of them, one of the emotional engines behind the stunning march to Super Bowl LVI.
Now, after a 2022 move to the New York Jets and a stretch of injuries that kept him from catching on elsewhere, Uzomah is officially done. On Monday, he retired as a Bengal.
Retiring in Stripes. pic.twitter.com/qO8TNMmaS7
- Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) August 24, 2026
That homecoming carries real meaning. It’s a reminder of how far Cincinnati’s culture has come in a short time, and it’s also a nudge to the front office that this is no time to ease up.
Uzomah’s path in the NFL was never easy. The Auburn product arrived as a fifth-round pick in 2015 and had to scratch and claw for everything he got. In 2018, he broke through with 43 catches for 439 yards and three touchdowns, enough to earn a three-year, $18 million deal to stay in Cincinnati.
Then came the setbacks. A torn Achilles ended his 2020 season after just two games, even though he had already put up eight catches for 87 yards and a touchdown.
Around that same period, Burrow suffered his own major knee injury. For Zac Taylor and the Bengals, things looked bleak.
The turnaround arrived in 2021. Ja’Marr Chase reunited with Burrow in Cincinnati, Uzomah delivered the best season of his career with 49 receptions, 493 yards and five touchdowns, and the Bengals powered all the way to Super Bowl LVI.
His impact went beyond the box score. Uzomah’s outgoing, charismatic personality fit perfectly alongside Burrow, Chase and Tee Higgins, who were more lead-by-example personalities and still young in their careers. He helped set the tone in a locker room that needed it.
His retirement as a Bengal feels symbolic of where this team has arrived in the Burrow era. It also lines up with Cincinnati’s best shot to get back to the Super Bowl since Uzomah left.
Not every former Bengal has walked away with warm feelings, but Uzomah is a different story. His exit to the Jets in free agency wasn’t the kind of messy breakup that has followed some other departures. And while the Bengals have plenty of work to do - their treatment of families on the NFLPA report card is still abysmal, and their contract negotiations have earned a similar grade - Uzomah’s relationship with the franchise has stayed intact.
That stands in contrast to the exits of players like Jessie Bates, Trey Hendrickson, Carlos Dunlap, Jonah Williams and others, which left harder feelings behind. Uzomah, by comparison, chose to celebrate his roots.
"History has a way of repeating itself and there’s no place I’d want to formally announce my retirement, than the place that started it all for me and gave me my chance. The place I will always think of as my second home and will always hold a special place in me and my family’s heart.
The place where we won a playoff game for the first time since before I was born, and went on an odds defying run to the Super Bowl. A place I’ve met people who have become like brothers to me.
Cincinnati, thank you for everything."
Winning changes everything, and Uzomah earned plenty of goodwill along the way. He pushed through the early lean years, peaked when the Bengals needed him most on that Super Bowl LVI run, and then did what made sense for him by taking his chance with the Jets. Now he’s ending his career where it all took off.
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