Brandon Tate has been the primary kick and punt returner for the Bengals for most of the last five seasons, but he won’t be continuing that streak in 2016.
The Bengals announced Tuesday that they released Tate as they made the cut to 75 players. Tate joined the Bengals on waivers in 2011 and has played in every one of the team’s games over the last five years. He averaged 9.2 yards per punt return, scoring one touchdown, and 24.3 yards per kickoff return while also catching 33 passes.
In addition to cutting Tate, the Bengals placed rookie defensive tackle Andrew Billings on injured reserve. Billings had surgery to repair a torn meniscus this month and will have to make another attempt at winning playing time in 2017.
Defensive tackle Brandon Thompson will start the year on the physically unable to perform list, which leaves him ineligible to play or practice in the first six weeks of the year, and wide receiver Mario Alford was waived/injured to round out the team’s moves.
