Cincinnati Bengals officially announce team captains for 2024 NFL season

With less than a week remaining until their regular season opener against the New England Patriots, the Cincinnati Bengals officially announced their captains for the 2024 NFL season.

Bengals officially name 2024 captains

The Bengals named eight different players as captains, starting with star quarterback Joe Burrow, who is ready to return after suffering a season-ending wrist injury that required surgery last season. Burrow has served as a captain for the Bengals every single season since the team selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 draft. It's rare that a rookie is named as a captain, but Burrow isn't an average player.

In all, Cincinnati named three offensive players, three defensive players and two special teams players as captains for the '24 campaign. The selections were determined by team vote. Here's the full list:

• Joe Burrow, Quarterback

• Ted Karras, Center

• Orlando Brown Jr., Offensive tackle

• Sam Hubbard, Defensive end

• Vonn Bell, Safety

• Germaine Pratt, Linebacker

• Akeem Davis-Gaither, Linebacker (special teams)

• Evan McPherson, Kicker (special teams)

Four of these players -- McPherson, Davis-Gaither, Pratt and Brown Jr. -- will be first-time captains in Cincinnati, while Burrow, Hubbard and Karras have all previously served as captains with the Bengals. Similarly, Bell also previously served as a captain with the Bengals prior to spending the 2023 season as a member of the Cincinnati Bengals. Now, he's back in the black-and-orange and back to serving as a captain for the team after they brought him back in free agency over the offseason.

Every team in the NFL views the role of captain a bit differently, and the vaunted 'C' patch can mean different things for different teams and players. But typically captains are proven veteran players who can be relied upon to lead by example both on and off of the field. With that concept in mind, it certainly seems like Cincinnati made some solid selections when it comes to captains for the 2024 season.