No, the Buccaneers didn’t agree to terms with running back Samaje Perine on a three-year $22 million deal. Or on any deal.
Instead, Perine will be returning to the Bengals after a two-year break.
It’s a two-year deal, worth up to $3.8 million. Which is quite the difference from three years and $22 million.
Perine spent three full seasons with the Bengals before playing for the Broncos in 2023 and the Chiefs in 2024. His best year came as a rookie with Washington in 2017, when he rushed for 603 yards. Last year, he had 92 yards in 16 regular-season games with the Chiefs.
The race to Twitter has its pitfalls. Unrelated to Monday’s struggles by Twitter to remain available.
Bucs G.M. Jason Licht took to the social-media platform to dispute a report from Aaron Wilson of KPRC in Houston that Tampa Bay had reached a deal with Chiefs running back Samaje Perine.
The story was then amplified by the aggrebots. Licht mobilized.
“No we did not,” Licht tweeted.
It’s nice to see someone willing to correct the record when it needs to be corrected. Especially on a day when far too many tweets are being taken as Gospel truth.
The Bengals are keeping one of their veteran defenders.
According to multiple reports, Cincinnati is re-signing defensive tackle B.J. Hill to a three-year contract.
The initial reports indicate the deal is worth $33 million with $16 million guaranteed.
Hill, who turns 30 next month, has been with the Bengals since 2021. He’s appeared in 64 games with 50 starts for the club, including 15 starts last year. He finished the season with 56 total tackles, seven tackles for loss, nine QB hits, 3.0 sacks, and four passes defensed.
In 112 carer games for the Giants and Bengals, Hill has tallied 23.5 sacks, 29 tackles for loss, and 66 QB hits.
He was No. 75 on PFT’s list of the top 100 free agents of 2025.
The Bengals have placed the NFL’s 2024 sack leader Trey Hendrickson on the trade block, but they’ll at least have Hill back next season.
The Bengals are re-signing some of their players, just not the big names thus far.
The team is bringing back offensive lineman Cody Ford on a two-year deal, Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports.
Ford, 28, has served as a versatile contributor on the offensive line since joining the Bengals as an unrestricted free agent in the 2023 offseason.
He played 16 games in 2024 with nine starts — five at left tackle, two at left guard, one at right tackle and one as a sixth offensive lineman. Ford appeared in all 17 games during debut season with Cincinnati in 2023, lining up as sixth lineman and reserve guard while also seeing action on special teams.
Ford entered the NFL as a second-round draft pick of Buffalo in 2019, and he spent his first three seasons with the Bills. He played for the Cardinals in 2022 before joining the Bengals.
He has 42 career starts, 16 at right tackle, 10 at left guard, nine at right guard, five at left tackle and two as an extra blocker.
Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Trey Hendrickson all are looking for long-term deals with the team, though the Bengals have used the franchise tag on Higgins and they have given Hendrickson permission to seek a trade.
The Bengals have yet to write any literal new checks to receiver Ja’Marr Chase. The figurative check written at the Scouting Combine keeps getting more expensive.
“He is going to end up being the No. 1 paid non-quarterback in the league,” director of player personnel Duke Tobin said regarding Chase.
When Tobin said it, the non-quarterback floor came from Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson, who’s making $35 million per year in new money. This week, Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby bumped that to $35.5 million. Now, the new deal given by the Browns to defensive end Myles Garrett could kick the number to at least $40 million per year.
The real Garrett numbers will be revealed in time. Regardless, Chase’s bottom line keeps growing.
And that’s only going to make it more expensive for the Bengals to sign Chase.
They could have done it last year. The numbers were right, but the structure was not. The end result will be much more cash than it would have been in 2024.
That said, the Bengals got another year from Chase at less than $5 million. And it was a special season — he led the league in catches, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. It won’t make Chase any less determined to get what he deserves.
Unless it happens, the eventual price will only keep going up. Next up for new deals are Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt and Cowboys do-it-all defender Micah Parsons.
Given that the Bengals have made Chase wait this long, Chase should wait to see how high others will push his floor. In the end, Jefferson’s $35 million could end up being $45 million.
