Bengals release veteran DT Sheldon Rankins after one season

Ben BabyFeb 21, 2025, 01:38 PM ET

CloseBen Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the company in July 2019. Prior to ESPN, he worked for various newspapers in Texas, most recently at The Dallas Morning News where he covered college sports.
He provides daily coverage of the Bengals for ESPN.com, while making appearances on SportsCenter, ESPN’s NFL shows and ESPN Radio programs.
A native of Grapevine, Texas, he graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He is an adjunct journalism professor at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).

CINCINNATI — One of the Cincinnati Bengals’ prized free agents from a year ago is no longer on the roster, as the team released defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins on Friday.

Last offseason, Rankins signed a two-year deal worth $24.5 million. However, after playing in just seven games in the first season of that deal, Cincinnati opted to part ways with the veteran.

When Rankins signed with the team in 2024, he was projected to provide a big boost for Cincinnati’s defensive line. The year before joining the Bengals, Rankins had six sacks with the Houston Texans. Three of those occurred in a 2023 win against the Bengals, one of Rankins’ top career performances.

However, injuries and illness played a role in Rankins not panning out in Cincinnati. He missed three games with a hamstring injury before returning in Week 6 for the next five games. During that span, he totaled one sack and one quarterback hit.

The 31-year-old missed the final seven games of the regular season with what coach Zac Taylor initially said was a viral illness. At one point later in the year, Taylor expressed optimism that Rankins could return to play. However, he never returned and was eventually placed on the non-football injured reserve in Week 18, the final week of the regular season.

Rankins was due a roster bonus on March 17. By releasing him on Friday, the Bengals will gain $9.6 million in salary cap savings while also occurring a dead money hit of $2 million against the cap.

Cincinnati is looking to retool a defense that struggled last season. Despite career years from quarterback Joe Burrow, wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase and defensive end Trey Hendrickson, Cincinnati finished with an 9-8 record and missed the postseason for a second straight year.

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