Cincinnati

Bengals

Sample (6'3/272) has been a member of the defensive line rotation since joining Cincinnati in 2021 and finished the 2024 season with 1.5 sacks and 29 tackles. The 24-year-old defender will now rehabilitate with a chance to play a similar role for the Bengals in 2025; assuming he stays in the organization.

Gesicki likely won’t participate much during practice Monday with the Bengals reportedly having a “heavy special teams day.” The 6-foot-6 tight end was brought in this spring, and he has a chance for a decent role as an option out of the slot in the Cincinnati offense.

ESPN’s Dan Graziano wrote after his recent trip to Bengals camp, “Don’t be surprised, though, if tight end Mike Gesicki ends up being the de facto No. 3 receiver.” Gesicki has been an afterthought in offenses for the last three seasons. Fresh off a 2021 campaign in which he totaled 73-780-2, he managed just 32 catches for 362 yards and five touchdowns in his first and only season under Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel and had one of the worst years of his career with the Patriots last season. Now, playing in an offense that’s prioritized the pass since Taylor first arrived in 2019, Gesicki has a chance to rebound from two down seasons and re-establish himself as a threat in an offense that’s expected to be amongst the league’s best in 2024.

While, in some ways, this is one teammate hyping up another, this isn’t the first time Iosivas has received offseason praise from the Bengals. Earlier this summer, Iosivas’ personal receiver coach said the second-year receiver “made the fastest improvement of any player [he’s] ever had.” On top of that, Iosivas is also expected to work as the third receiver in 11 personnel, possibly filling the void left by Tyler Boyd in the slot. The 6-foot-3, 212-pound speedster could see significant work in an offense that’s expected to feature plenty of three-receiver sets. He could make for an interesting late-round dart throw in deeper PPR leagues.

After being carted off the field in Sunday’s practice, Hubbard underwent an MRI on his knee. It was determined that he avoided any serious injury, but he’ll miss at least a few days with said injury. Hubbard is coming off a six-sack season for the Bengals in 2023 and will once again work opposite Trey Hendrickson, who racked up 17.5 sacks of his own last season.

Hubbard suffered a knee injury in Sunday’s practice and received an MRI later that night. With any concerns of a major injury appearing to be behind him, the question now becomes whether or not Hubbard will miss any time with the injury. A six-year veteran of the league, Hubbard totaled six sacks last season with the Bengals and has tallied 12.5 sacks over the last two seasons. Even if he were to miss some time in camp, as long as he’s cleared for Week 1, this will all be a non-issue.

Chase and the Bengals haven’t formally called this a “hold-in,” but it’s fairly obvious what’s going on here. We’ve been given no indication that Chase is dealing with any kind of an injury, yet he remains sidelined while awaiting a new contract. Bengals president Mike Brown seemed unwilling to negotiate a new deal with Chase this offseason, but it may take an extension to get the star receiver on the field. Chase is under contract through 2025 after having his fifth-year option picked up. He has a base salary of just $1.055 million and will earn $21.816 million on the club option next season.

The Friday practice report comes from NBC Cincinnati’s Charlie Clifford. Three days prior, Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin told reporters that Brown would “have an opportunity to be the guy, or the second guy, or in tandem with Zack [Moss].” The repeated first-team opportunities are a positive sign thus far. Brown was also filmed returning kickoffs on Friday—a potentially fantasy-relevant role with the NFL’s new kickoff return rules.

Head coach Zac Taylor said earlier that some veterans, including Chase, would have “limited” days through the first two weeks as part of a ramp-up period. The one glaring difference between Chase and veterans like Joe Burrow, Trey Hendrickson, and Tee Higgins is that they’ve already practiced in some capacity, while Chase has been spotted on the sideline both days. It still feels too premature to call Chase a “hold-in,” but the star receiver is in search of a new contract after having his fifth-year option picked up earlier this offseason. Bengals team president Mike Brown said earlier this week that “It’s not so likely that this is the good time to negotiate” an extension with Chase, but it’s possible Chase is hoping to force the team’s hand a bit. A third-straight missed practice by Chase would only amplify any concerns of a hold-in. We’ll hopefully know more about this situation soon.

Brown said he’s “not going to rule anything out” but “that the die has probably been cast” regarding Chase and any possibility of an extension before the start of the season. Chase and fellow receiver Tee Higgins are both in search of long-term extensions from the Bengals. Higgins, who is set to play out this season on the franchise tag, has been seeking a new contract for the last two years and has seen little development in the way of landing one. At one point, Higgins said the two sides hadn’t discussed a deal in over a year. Chase caught a career-high 100 passes in 2023 while going for 1,216 yards and seven touchdowns. The Bengals have already picked up his fifth-year option for the 2025 season, meaning he wouldn’t be officially due for a new contract until 2026. The Bengals have historically moved slowly when it comes to securing their players for long-term deals. We’ll see if things are any different with Chase.