Tanner Hudson has spent his Bengals tenure in the shadows, but he’s kept finding ways to matter.
With Cincinnati’s tight end room shifting around him in recent years, Hudson has stayed in the mix while other names have come and gone. Mike Gesicki now sits at the top of the depth chart after signing an extension, and Drew Sample is positioned ahead of Hudson too. Even so, Hudson has carved out a role by doing a little of everything and earning Joe Burrow’s trust along the way.
At 6-5 and 241 pounds, the 31-year-old is on his third one-year deal with the Bengals, a contract worth $1.35 million that includes $50,000 guaranteed. His salary makes up less than one percent of the team’s total cap, but his value has been far greater than that number suggests.
Hudson’s path to this point started far from the NFL spotlight. He began at Memphis as a quarterback and punter before transferring to Southern Arkansas and moving to tight end.
The switch changed everything. By the time his college career was over, he had 143 catches for 2,152 yards and 25 touchdowns, along with first-team All-GAC honors and second-team All-American recognition as a senior.
After going undrafted in 2018, Hudson signed with the Buccaneers and spent three seasons moving between the active roster and practice squad. That stretch ended with a Super Bowl LV ring, and later stops with the 49ers and Giants eventually led him to Cincinnati, where he joined the Bengals’ practice squad late in the 2022 season.
His real breakthrough came in 2023. Hudson posted career highs with 39 receptions for 352 yards and his first NFL touchdown, building a strong connection with backup quarterback Jake Browning. He has stayed useful ever since, catching 19 passes in both the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
Looking ahead to 2026, Hudson’s place is pretty clear: he’s not Gesicki’s kind of receiver, and he’s not Sample as a blocker. But he can handle both jobs when needed, and he can handle them well enough to keep himself valuable.
The main challenge to his spot is Erick All. The local product hasn’t played since 2024 after dealing with a knee injury that began in college, but he’s reportedly healthy now.
If he stays healthy, he could eat into Hudson’s snaps. If not, Hudson still looks like a perfectly reasonable option for Cincinnati as TE3.
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Joe Burrow Is Facing A Career Debate Bengals Fans Hate
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For Bengals fans, the debate feels premature because Burrows talent has never really been in question, even through the injury stretches that have slowed him down. He was limited to eight games last season while recovering from a turf-toe injury and still put up solid passing numbers, but the bigger issue is how much career ground he still has to make up if the missing time keeps stacking up against him. [Read more 🡒]