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5 Bengals players who might be finished in Cincinnati

By Hunter Bittinger

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 27: Tyler Eifert #85 of the Cincinnati Bengals is tackled by Marqui Christian #26 of the Los Angeles Rams during the NFL London Games series match between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams at Wembley Stadium on October 27, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 27: Tyler Eifert #85 of the Cincinnati Bengals is tackled by Marqui Christian #26 of the Los Angeles Rams during the NFL London Games series match between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams at Wembley Stadium on October 27, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images) /
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LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 27: Tyler Eifert #85 of the Cincinnati Bengals is tackled by Marqui Christian #26 of the Los Angeles Rams during the NFL London Games series match between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams at Wembley Stadium on October 27, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 27: Tyler Eifert #85 of the Cincinnati Bengals is tackled by Marqui Christian #26 of the Los Angeles Rams during the NFL London Games series match between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams at Wembley Stadium on October 27, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images) /

Tyler Eifert, when healthy, has been one of the most exciting and productive Bengals in recent history.

Under Marvin Lewis, Eifert would probably be very likely to return to Cincinnati. On Zac Taylor’s watch, however, a continuation of the partnership between the 29-year-old and the Bengals is no sure thing.

Taylor primarily uses 11-personnel in his offense, which consists of three wide receivers, one running back, and a single tight end. This means the instances where multiple tight ends were on the field at the same time are much rarer and the value of tight ends in his system is decreased.

The Bengals recently gave C.J. Uzomah a solid contract, so he eats up a lot of the snaps. In addition, the team invested a second-round draft pick in Drew Sample just last year, cutting into Eifert’s playing time as well.

In fact, he played just 44.6% of the offensive snaps last season, despite being healthy the entire year. For comparison sake, the last season he remained mostly healthy, he played 71.09% of the offensive snaps. That was under the previous coaching regime, so it’s clear he’s seen a downtick in usage under Taylor.

With Eifert set to enter free agency, he’ll likely find a bigger payday from a team that features tight ends more than the Bengals do.

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