Who's on the roster bubble for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2023? Here are three potential cut candidates in training camp.
The Cincinnati Bengals are no longer the new kids on the block. After two consecutive seasons of reaching the AFC Championship round, the team is hungrier than ever to win some brass.
The first step to victory, as with any other sports team, is elite roster construction, and the Bengals head into 2023 with one of the most complete squads around. Paring things down to a 53-man roster will be no easy feat and will break plenty of hearts this summer. With training camp underway, we take a look at players on the roster bubble whose futures remain undecided. The likes of Joe, Ja'Marr, Tee, Tyler, and other starters are locked in. But what about the depth behind them?
These are three Bengals players who could get cut by the end of camp.
Bengals' training camp cut candidate No. 3: Jake Browning, QB
When Brandon Allen left for San Francisco earlier this offseason, Bengals backup quarterback Jake Browning must have silently fist-pumped. This year was his year to shine.
Then the Bengals went out and got NFL journeyman Trevor Siemian, whose years of experience on the Jets, Titans, Saints, and Bears outweigh Browning's starry-eyed optimism. Siemian has played in 65 regular season games in his career; Browning has yet to play in a single one. Who do you think is going to win the No. 2 backup job?
On the off chance that the Bengals favor Browning's youth, the Washington product has a very narrow shot at making the 53-man roster. But he lost to Allen prior to the 2022 season, and he's most likely going to lose again to an established vet. Browning, who went undrafted back in 2019, last spent time on the Minnesota Vikings' practice squad, and this time, he's primed to become a fixture on Cincy's practice squad.
There's no honor lost in being a practice squad standout. Browning just has to know his place, and it's not among the first-teamers. Luck is not on his side in his uninspiring NFL career so far.
Bengals' training camp cut candidate No. 2: Jeff Gunter, DE
The Bengals' pass-rushing corps in 2023 looks electrifying. As one of the most highly touted training camp positional battles this summer, the defensive end unit is the most competitive it's been for years, and Cincy will have to make excruciating choices on who to keep and who to cut.
Apart from roster locks Sam Hubbard and Trey Hendrickson, the rest of the depth chart faces a squirrely climb up the totem pole.
Joseph Ossai, Cam Sample, Myles Murphy, Tarell Basham, and Jeff Gunter are all players who weren't on the team before 2021, putting them on somewhat level ground. Yet whereas Ossai arguably boasts higher production in recent years, Sample, Murphy, Basham, and Gunter all trail slightly behind, along with a few other stragglers on the backend of the chart.
Assuming the Bengals roster five or six edge-rushers, some veterans and/ or youngsters are going to get the axe. Cincy used a draft pick on 2022 seventh-rounder Jeff Gunter, but Gunter also got injured for a stretch of his rookie season.
In 2022, Gunter appeared in 10 games and recorded one tackle, and he was more often used on special teams. This season, with a jacked-up defensive end unit chockful of players with valuable skillsets, Gunter may bring less to the table.
With Gunter getting a slow start to his NFL career, the Bengals may choose to give 2023 first-rounder Murphy and veteran Basham spots on the active roster instead. The tortoise does not, in fact, win this race.
Bengals' training camp cut candidate No. 1: La'el Collins, RT
Dallas knew something that Cincinnati didn't.
When right tackle La'el Collins left the Cowboys after seven seasons and joined the Bengals last offseason, Cincy fans were elated and enamored. A blue-chip talent like Collins? Pinch us, we're dreaming.
Then Collins graded out as one of the Bengals' worst-performing offensive lineman of 2022 with a 57.9 overall Pro Football Focus grade. At 29 years old, Collins is at a stage in his career when he can't afford to have injuries, but he began training camp in 2022 with a back issue. Then he suffered a torn ACL and MCL at the end of the 2022 season, which he's still rehabbing.
Is it time for the Bengals to cut their losses and move on? By releasing Collins, Cincy would save $7 million in cap space.
This training camp, Jonah Williams and Jackson Carman will go head-to-head for the starting right tackle job, and assuming those two stay healthy, Collins suddenly isn't so valuable to the Bengals anymore. After his inconsistent play last season, Collins poses more of a liability than a starting-caliber blocker, and his exit could allow more opportunities for younger players to step up.
Sure, the Bengals may still be suffering from PTSD from the 2021 season in which Burrow got sacked 70 times in the regular season and playoffs combined. Out of all positions, the Bengals' offensive line better have the best, most air-tight insurance policy on the team. By those high standards, we just don't think Collins makes the cut in 2023.