Re-signing Cal Adomitis likely spells the end for Clark Harris with the Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals signed their first player of the 2023 offseason and it's Cal Adomitis, the long snapper out of Pittsburgh. Adomitis was an undrafted free agent who signed with the Bengals following the draft and no one expected him to be the team's long snapper for the majority of the season.

That's what happened though, as long-time long snapper Clark Harris was injured in Week 1 and didn't return for the rest of the season. Adomitis had his ups and downs but he was an exclusive-rights free agent so if the Bengals wanted him back, he was going to be back.

Re-signing Adomitis answers the question of who will be Cincinnati's long snapper in 2023 and likely moving forward. While Harris was the more reliable option, Adomitis is younger and it's not ideal to be switching the long snapper position up. Teams want them to gel with the rest of the special teams unit.

Bengals re-sign Cal Adomitis

Harris joined the Bengals back in 2009 and was mostly healthy during his career. The injury he sustained in Week 1 ended up being a major factor in why Cincinnati lost that game to the Steelers, as Mitchell Wilcox was forced to take over long-snapping duties for that game and it didn't go well.

While Harris had initially said that he didn't want to retire because of an injury, you'd have to think he calls it a career now. He'll turn 39 in July and it feels random to sign with another team this late in his career but hey, long-snappers could be older since that's their task. They're not taking many hits out there.

If this is the end for Clark Harris, hats off to him! It's too bad he won't be a member of the Bengals when they eventually hoist the Lombardi Trophy.