4 Bengals players barely hanging onto a roster spot

The Cincinnati Bengals can't keep everyone on their roster for the 2023 season and that's what makes this time of year so difficult. While the Bengals have plenty of talent on the roster, younger, cheaper, options emerge in training camp and the preseason that can lead to some of the veteran contributors getting cut or relegated to the practice squad.

Let's take a look at four members of the Cincinnati Bengals who are barely hanging onto a spot on the 53-man roster.

Hakeem Adeniji

Drafted in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft, Adeniji has had quite the rollercoaster of a career. He's played both tackle spots and right guard during his three years in Cincinnati but has been a liability on the o-line over the past two years.

With the emergence of D'Ante Smith in the preseason, Adeniji might not end up landing on the roster when the regular season kicks off. If he doesn't make the team, he'll be a practice squad member but his experience at three different spots on the offensive line could make him appealing to another team in need of some offensive line depth.

Jackson Carman

Ultimately, Carman probably makes the final roster but that doesn't mean he's necessarily deserving of it. He played poorly in the preseason opener but did have some okay moments in the second game after the team moved him back to his preferred position of left tackle.

The Bengals are honestly set at tackle depth so Carman could be expendable. A more likely scenario could potentially be trading him but it's unknown if a team has seen enough from Carman yet to be interested in giving any sort of draft capital up for him.

The former second-round pick has by and large been considered a bust since entering the league in 2021 so not including him wouldn't be a surprise. If Orlando Brown Jr. were to get injured, Jonah Williams could slide into the left tackle spot and La'el Collins would hopefully step up to right tackle.

Jeff Gunter

The 2022 seventh-round pick showed some flashes of potential during his rookie season but the problem for Gunter is that the Bengals have a lot of depth at defensive line. Guys like Jay Tufele, Raymond Johnson III, and Domenique Davis have done enough that Gunter's spot on the roster could be in jeopardy.

Trent Taylor

It's feeling less and less likely that Taylor ends up making the team. A lot of people felt that way as soon as the Bengals spent a fourth-round pick on Charlie Jones and that makes perfect sense, as Jones projects as the return specialist. That would crowd out Taylor, who served in the punt return role last year.

The Bengals are keeping the big three and Trenton Irwin for sure at wide receiver. Then, if the Bengals keep just six receivers, the final two spots are likely going to Jones and Andrei Iosivas. Taylor's best chance for inclusion is if the Bengals increase the number of WR spots to seven but even then, he'd have to leapfrog Stanley Morgan Jr. for the seventh and final spot.

Taylor has been a nice addition to the Bengals special teams but there simply might not be enough room left for him on the roster.