Bengals make first cut of offseason, release quarterback.
The Bengals made their first offseason cut, preparing for the 2024 season and the return of quarterback Joe Burrow.
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Cincinnati is dismissing backup quarterback A.J. McCarron, who joined the team for depth after Burrow sustained a season-ending wrist injury in Week 11.
Parting ways with McCarron makes sense given the emergence of quarterback Jake Browning this season. Over the final two months of the season, the 27-year-old helped the Bengals compete for a postseason spot by throwing for 1,936 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Browning also became the first quarterback since the NFL began tracking quarterback starts in 1950 to have 1,000+ passing yards and complete over 75 percent of his passes in his first four starts, according to ESPN’s Field Yates.
However, if Cincinnati wants Browning to return to backup Burrow in 2024, it will need to resign him this offseason as he was playing on a one-year deal. But the release of McCarron shows the team’s confidence that that will happen.
As for McCarron, he hopes to continue his NFL career, which also includes stops with the Bills (2018), Raiders (2018), Texans (2019-2) and Falcons (2021), elsewhere. However, he does not have a strong case after just passing 19 yards on five tries in Browning’s place this season.
The 33-year-old made his way back to the league after leading the XFL in touchdowns, completion percentage and passer rating in 2023 and it looks like he is going to have to take a similar path to return to the NFL once again next season.
Browning is expected to sign back with the St. Louis Battlehawks for the 2024 XFL season, and with another strong showing, the Bengals or another team may give him another shot in the league.
But right now, Cincinnati is solely focused on building up other parts of its roster as a healthy Burrow is working his way back to contend for another Super Bowl in 2024.
