With first cuts needing to be made, the Bengals have officially commenced that process by waiving WR Pooka Williams, RB Shermari Jones, and CB Abu Daramy-Swaray.
Williams was originally signed by the Bengals as an undrafted free agent in 2021. He started out as a RB before making the transition to WR. I had some hope for Williams to carve out a role for himself, given that his skillset is something the Bengals may be lacking. Unfortunately, the writing seemed to be on the wall, given that his snaps in the first preseason game were limited, and he muffed a punt.
Jones is a rookie UDFA. The Bengals signed him out of Coastal Carolina following the draft. Jones faced stiff competition, and was always a long shot, even for the practice squad. The Bengals will move forward with Chris Evans, Samaje Perine, Jacques Patrick, and Trayveon Williams battling it out for spots behind Joe Mixon.
Daramy-Swaray was signed by the Bengals a couple of weeks after the draft. He originally went undrafted in 2019, and has since bounced around quite a bit. Most recently, he spent time in the German Football League.
With these cuts and Wyatt Hubert’s retirement, the Bengals roster now sits at 86. As per the rules, teams must trim their roster down to 85 following the first preseason game, meaning that another cut is likely coming soon.
Homescreen Image Via: Andrew Turner (CC)