3 Bengals who won’t be on the roster after training camp
By Kristen Wong
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.