For most football players who make it to the NFL, football is without question their best professional move.
For Bengals cornerback Ceyair Wright, he had another option. And he chose to take it.
The team announced that Wright has left the Bengals to “pursue other opportunities.” It’s reportedly an acting role.
It’s a rare move for a pro football player to not play pro football, but Wright had an offer he couldn’t refuse.
“I don’t know how to properly define it for him,” coach Zac Taylor told reporters on Saturday. “He called us last night and let us know that he had an opportunity. I know it was a difficult decision for him. I think two things he’s really passionate about were colliding, and he decided to pursue this opportunity. So he’s a great kid, comes from a great university. And, you know, we wish him the best. He was fun to be around. He really competed hard for us. It was fun watching him play. I thought he was ascending as a player. But, obviously, he’s chosen to go a different path.”
Wright appeared in Space Jam: A New Legacy in 2021. He has several other acting credits.
The Bengals still hold his rights, if/when he chooses to return. As an undrafted free agent from Nebraska on the 90-man roster, however, it’s hardly a given that the Bengals will find a spot for him on the 53-man roster if/when he comes back.
Really, the decision was difficult only if Wright knew he’d make the team. He had a separate bird in the hand. As to the Bengals, there was no guarantee he’d be employed beyond August 30, the day for cutting 37 players.
The Bengals made a change at cornerback on Saturday.
They announced the signing of Matthew McDoom to the active roster. He takes the spot previously filled by Ceyair Wright, who has been placed on the reserve/left squad list.
Per the Bengals, Wright “left the team to pursue other opportunities.” Wright, who played LeBron James’s son in Space Jam: A New Legacy, signed with the Bengals as an undrafted free agent after playing at USC and Nebraska in college.
McDoom played his college ball at Cincinnati and signed with the Ravens after going undrafted in April. He was waived by Baltimore last week.
The Bengals will be getting a key piece of their defensive line back on the practice field.
They announced that they have activated B.J. Hill from the physically unable to perform list on Saturday morning. Hill had an ankle procedure in the offseason and has not practiced at all at training camp as a result.
Hill is in his sixth season with the Bengals. He started every game last year and had 66 tackles, five tackles for loss and four sacks in those appearances.
Hill was the only Bengals player on an injury list, so the entire 90-man roster is now eligible to practice with the team.
The sudden and surprising scuffle between Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels and LSU over the re-issuance of his number (5) has implicated Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, given that the school has to date honored its vow to not use his number (9) again.
After Thursday night’s preseason opener against the Lions, Burrow was asked about the situation.
“I just heard about it a couple hours ago,” Burrow said, via Caleb Noe of WCPO. “I don’t necessarily have too many thoughts at this time. I just — I don’t know enough about the situation to have any thoughts, I would say.”
Burrow added that he received a similar promise that LSU wouldn’t use his number again.
“They told me that they wouldn’t use it again,” Burrow said, “but, you know, you never know — you never know what happens.”
Indeed you don’t. If, for instance, cornerback DJ Pickett had wanted to wear No. 9 instead of No. 5, former LSU coach Brian Kelly may have made the same promise regarding Burrow’s number that was made regarding Daniels’s number. (With no apparent intention of honoring it.)
The key here was the coaching change. Lane Kiffin was able to placate Pickett while blaming Kelly for giving his word (directly or indirectly) that Pickett could wear No. 5. What no one expected was the aggressive reaction from Daniels’s camp, which ultimately didn’t do Daniels (or LSU) any favors.
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow started the team’s first preseason game Thursday night against the Lions.
He went 5-for-6 for 39 yards, with his only incompletion coming when his arm was hit. Burrow had a 16-yard completion to Ja’Marr Chase.
He was sacked for a 9-yard loss two plays later, and the drive stalled.
The Bengals went 32 yards in nine plays on Burrow’s second series, with Evan McPherson kicking a 56-yard field goal.
Joe Flacco replaced Burrow and threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Jack Endries in the second quarter, giving the Bengals a 10-0 lead.
The Lions are not playing their starters tonight.
The Bengals will have most starters playing in their preseason opener against the Lions on Thursday night.
Head coach Zac Taylor told reporters in his Tuesday press conference that key players like Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Dexter Lawrence are all slated to be on the field this week, though it will be for limited series.
“It won’t be a ton of time, but for our fans to come out there, they’re going to see Joe, Ja’Marr, and Tee. They’re going to see Dexter,” Taylor said. “So, they’ll get a chance to enjoy some of our players there. But how long I keep them out there remains to be seen.”
Taylor added that not every starter is going to participate in the game, as some are dealing with minor injuries. But Taylor noted that there isn’t currently anything major that will keep guys out into the regular season.
Kickoff between the Lions and Bengals is slated for 7 p.m. ET on Thursday night.
Bengals rookie defensive end Cashius Howell has spent most of training camp playing with the second team behind Myles Murphy and Boye Mafe. But he earned a promotion Thursday, getting more first-team snaps.
According to Jay Morrison of SI.com, Howell twice beat starting left tackle Orlando Brown Jr.
“I’ve had a few [first-team] reps here and there, but today was the first real day that I’ve gotten good, solid, quality reps,” Howell said. “It gives me a little bit of confidence. But regardless of who lines up in front of me, I want to make sure I’m coming out and bringing the same competitive performance, the same energy.”
Howell went 41st overall despite being the SEC’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2025 with 11.5 sacks. His 30 1/4-inch arm measurement — the shortest of any edge rusher since at least 1999 — was the reason.
The Texas A&M product has had no problem getting separation in camp.
“It’s very hard to do what he’s doing so early,” Mafe said. “It’s been exciting to see. I’ve been saying he’s going to be a great player. I’ve always known that. He has it in him. It’s just a matter of getting comfortable.
“Once he does, he’s gonna be a dog in this league, and I can’t wait to see it.”
The Bengals got tight end Josh Kattus back at practice on Thursday.
Kattus was placed on the non-football illness list before the start of training camp last month. The team announced that he has passed a physical and been activated from the list.
Kattus signed with the Bengals after going undrafted in April. He had 38 catches for 505 yards and six touchdowns in 44 games over four seasons at Kentucky. Kattus started 26 of those contests.
Mike Gesicki, Drew Sample, Erick All, Tanner Hudson, Cam Grandy and seventh-round pick Jack Endries are the other tight ends on the 90-man roster in Cincinnati.
The Bengals will kick off their preseason schedule next Thursday and head coach Zac Taylor shared some of his plans for that game against the Lions at a Thursday press conference.
Taylor was asked if he is planning to play the team’s starters against Detroit and Taylor said that those players will see action.
“They will play a little bit. We’ll just determine how much at a later date,” Taylor said.
It’s a similar approach to the one the Bengals took to start the 2025 preseason. After leaving starters on the bench for several years in August, the Bengals changed course by putting Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and others on the field. Burrow went 9-of-10 for 123 yards and two touchdowns, including one to Chase, before heading to the bench.
The shift in approach was designed to help the team get off to a faster start in the regular season and it looked successful as the Bengals opened with a pair of wins, but an injury to Burrow helped send them to a 4-11 record the rest of the way.
When the Ravens rewarded receiver Zay Flowers with a new deal that carries a new-money average of $35 million per year, plenty of other receivers surely took notice.
The most obvious raised eyebrows belong to Rams receiver Puka Nacua and Cowboys receiver George Pickens. Nacua, who’s making $5.767 million in the final year of his rookie contract, has other issues that are complicating a long-term deal. Still, with each new big-money receiver deal that’s done, the absence of one for Nacua becomes more glaring.
With Pickens, the real question is whether the Cowboys will tag him again next year. At $27.298 million for 2026, the Cowboys could hold Pickens in place for $32.75 million in 2027 — still well below the top of the market. Surely, Jerry Jones will be inclined to do that.
But it’s not just the guys who haven’t gotten paid who will take notice of the Flowers deal. Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson, like Flowers, is at $35 million per year. All due respect to Flowers, he’s not Justin Jefferson.
Eventually, Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase will start to wonder whether he’s fairly paid at $40 million. Especially as more players who aren’t Ja’Marr Chase approach and pass his APY.
So, yes, the Flowers deal will make waves. The Drake London deal will make waves. Eventually, it will fuel a wave of contracts for other receivers who’ll see those deals and get ideas of their own that, given the market and the ever-increasing salary cap, are more than fair to have.
