4 recent Bengals draft picks who could be cut this summer

There have been 24 draftees selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the past three years. Only Tyler Shelvin and Wyatt Hubert are no longer with the team. However, those two could be joined by others in a little over a month and a half. 

For one reason or another, some young guys have not had many opportunities to show what they are fully capable of in meaningful action. A few are stuck behind a logjam of talent at their position group. Others will be pushed down the depth chart due to new incoming draft picks and free agents. 

No matter the reason, we have come to expect such transactions. This is the ecosystem of the NFL. Out with the "old new," in with the "new new." Here are four recent draft picks who could be cut this summer. 

Jeff Gunter

Jeff Gunter was selected in the seventh round of the 2022 draft. Nothing is guaranteed as a seventh-rounder. Still, Gunter impressed the coaches enough last year to maintain his place on the roster. 

Gunter has appeared in 10 regular season games and has recorded one tackle to this point. 

The former Coastal Carolina Chanticleer must hold off a push for a roster spot from formidable competition in players like Raymond Johnson III and Cam Sample this summer. 

The Bengals kept six edge rushers on the roster on cutdown day last season, placing Khalid Kareem on IR shortly afterward. The first four spots are already filled, belonging to Trey Hendrickson, Sam Hubbard, Myles Murphy, and Joseph Ossai.

If the team carries five on the active roster, as they did after placing Kareem on IR, there will be a Royal Rumble for the final spot. Cam Sample, Johnson, Gunter, Tarell Basham, and Owen Carney fighting for the last pass-rushing role will be highly entertaining to watch play out during training camp and the preseason. 

With the first-round selection of Murphy, there is one less place on this year’s roster for an edge defender a year ago. Even if the team holds on to six defensive ends, Gunter could be on the outside looking in.  

D’Ante Smith

Former East Carolina offensive tackle D’Ante Smith was taken in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Smith showed potential coming out of ECU as a pro prospect, however, injuries and his place on the depth chart haven’t allowed him to see the field very often. 

In his two years in Cincinnati, Smith has appeared in three regular season games. The coaches seem to like him enough to keep him on the active roster but not enough to suit up on game days. The coaches kept him on the active roster in 2022, but when injuries started to pile up along the offensive line, they called up Isaiah Prince off the practice squad and moved Max Scharping into a starting role. 

It is not very encouraging if an offensive lineman can’t get the call over Scharping, a free-agent acquisition from a year ago. 

Furthermore, Cincinnati famously signed tackle Orlando Brown Jr. this off-season to replace Jonah Williams on the left side. Also, the team acquired Cody Ford in free agency to compete for the right tackle spot along with Williams and Jackson Carman. 

The offensive line room is suddenly overcrowded. Furthering Smith's dilemma is that there are versatile offensive tackles competing for a job who have experience at playing guard on their resumé. Versatility is something that the Bengals value in their linemen. Smith is seen as strictly a tackle, which could be part of why we have not seen a lot from him.

Injuries, incoming free agents, and an inability to climb the depth chart could spell bad news for the former fourth-rounder. 

Chris Evans

Running back Chris Evans is another recent draft pick with some risk of being let go this summer. 

The Bengals could have stayed pat with Chris Evans and Trayveon Williams as the backups to Joe Mixon, however, they drafted a running back that fits perfectly with what the club needs in Chase Brown. Williams signed a new, albeit one-year, contract to stay with the club. That, along with Cincinnati's unwavering commitment to Mixon, the talented yet underused Evans could be in danger of losing his spot with the team. 

If we were to come down on one side or the other, we would bet on Evans being on the team when the final 53-man roster is announced. His lack of playing time and the drafting of Brown might signal the coaches are less enthusiastic about Evans than the fans are. 

Evans' lack of playing time is disappointing when considering what we have seen from the former Michigan Wolverine is, while limited, very promising. 

Maybe this year will be the year Evans breaks out or, this preseason may be one when Evans is auditioning for another team. In either case, this summer, we should get a better feel for how the coaching staff feels about him, one way or another.  

DJ Ivey

Life in the NFL as a seventh-round pick is not for the faint of heart. However, the sky is the limit when you come in and perform how DJ Ivey has so far this offseason. 

Cincinnati's cornerback room is stacked. And despite that, the team still saw Ivey as the best player available toward the back end of this year's draft. So it is not out of the question that he could be one of the seven cornerbacks the team carries into the regular season. 

However, he is facing steep competition for a final spot. Ivey’s place on the team could come down to him or veteran free-agent pickup Sidney Jones IV. While it was almost a given that Jones would be on the roster once cutdown day came and went, that is no longer the case. But Cincinnati could choose to go with the vet with pro experience over the rookie. 

If Ivey does not crack the roster on cutdown day, he will undoubtedly be signed to the practice squad. However, if his stellar offseason continues into training camp and preseason games, he could make the roster at the expense of Jones. 

Unfortunately, some draftees added to the Cincinnati Bengals roster not long ago could see their time with this club end. For the ones who are left out in the cold, let's hope they do enough to land on the Bengals' practice squad or on their feet with another team.