James

Wright

Wright started to make a name for himself with the Bengals back in 2014, but a knee injury ultimately derailed his career. He has not appeared in an NFL game since 2016, and getting cut at this point in the offseason is not a great sign. Indy also waived S Isaiah Johnson and DT DeShawn Williams.

Even with the Bengals replacing Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu’s lost targets, Wright’s best odds of making the 53-man roster are as a special teamer. Wright was the No. 239 overall pick of the 2014 draft.

Wright has missed the last two seasons to microfracture surgery. His return to practice is a good sign, but Wright’s training camp status remains up in the air. Mostly a special teamer before going down, Wright will compete for one of the final receiver spots.

A seventh-round pick in 2014, Wright looked to be carving out a role before a knee injury derailed his career. He did manage 13 catches in 13 games last season, but getting waived at this point in the offseason is not a great sign for his future.

Wright has 18 career catches, 13 of which came last season. He played for coach Hue Jackson in Cincinnati. He’ll compete for one of the rebuilding Browns’ final roster spots.

Beat writer Geoff Hobson failed to mention what the reasoning was, but we’re assuming Wright underwent some sort of offseason surgery. Wright caught five balls for 91 yards as a rookie and was a fixture on special teams. The Bengals are high on the sophomore. He’s the front-runner for No. 4 receiver duties.

It’s notable because Wright was a strict special teamer at LSU. "(I) talked to him and said, ‘Look, I know what you can do on special teams, now you’ve got to play wide receiver,’” sid WRs coach James Urban. “He’s embraced it. ... We’ll see once we get the pads on, but it’s been encouraging.” Despite Urban’s talk, Wright’s 53-man roster odds live and die with his special-teams prowess.

Wright was a pure special teams player as a senior at LSU after catching just 18 passes the year before. He won’t play on offense in Cincinnati and will have to display otherworldly kick-covering attributes to stick on the 53-man roster.

Wright (6-foot-1, 201) posted 18 catches for 242 yards as a junior. As a senior, he had zero receptions as he was banished to a strict special teams role while watching Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry improve their draft stock. Barring an outstanding kick and punt coverage showing on the practice field in camp, Wright will be an extreme longshot to crack the Bengals’ final roster.

Wright will go on I.R. after passing through waivers unclaimed. He’s facing knee surgery after tearing his PCL late last season. With Wright sidelined, the Bengals could add a veteran receiver before training camp.