The\u00a0Cincinnati Bengals\u00a0quietly made a few roster moves over the last few days that had nothing to do with the return of quarterback Joe Burrow.<\/p>\n
One of those\u00a0Bengals\u00a0roster moves, too, is a big one.<\/p>\n
While\u00a0announcing the elevation of linebacker Brian Asamoah II\u00a0to the active roster, the Bengals also revealed the addition of Antwaun Powell-Ryland to the practice squad.<\/p>\n
A small note, yet a big one, too.<\/p>\n
Powell-Ryland, after all, is a sixth-round rookie edge rusher out of Virginia Tech who had strong production in college en route to being a first-team all-ACC player.<\/p>\n
At face value, the Bengals could really use the edge rushing depth, with Isaiah Foskey the only other notable one on the practice squad. Same deal on the active roster, where depth names like Cedric Johnson and Cam Sample aren\u2019t necessarily standing out on limited snaps.<\/p>\n
Beyond that, it\u2019s notable to see the Bengals making good future-minded additions to the roster, with Powell-Ryland a candidate to come up to the active roster. And at a time when first-rounder Shemar Stewart is off to a poor start after alarmingly low production numbers in college, perhaps this is a sign of the team adjusting how it seeks out pressure creators for the future, too.<\/p>\n
We had a 4th round grade on Antwaun Powell-Ryland in the stacked 2025 EDGE group.<\/p>\n
From a prospect profile perspective, he is probably the second most talented pass rusher on their roster already.<\/p>\n
Ideally,\u00a0Browns\u00a0coach Kevin Stefanski would have answered the question with a firm, \u201cNo,\u201d leaving no doubt about the near-term future of one of the team\u2019s breakout players. That would be fourth-year pass-rusher\u00a0Alex Wright, who has 3.0 sacks on the season, behind\u00a0Myles Garrett\u00a0and\u00a0Maliek Collins.<\/p>\n
Wright has nine tackles for a loss this season, which is as many as he had in total in his\u00a0NFL\u00a0career entering the year. He has a\u00a0PFF grade of 88.7, which ranks No. 8 among pass-rushers in the NFL this year. But he left Sunday\u2019s loss to the\u00a0Jets\u00a0with a quad injury and is on the team\u2019s injury report heading into the Week 11 game against Baltimore.<\/p>\n
The severity of Wright\u2019s injury has not been much of a topic in Cleveland, until Wednesday, when Stefanski was asked about Wright possibly hitting the injured reserve\u2013which would force him out for four games.<\/p>\n
Said Stefanski: \u201cWe\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the Browns are just 2-7 and not much of a threat to make a run in the AFC this year, Wright certainly has much at stake this season. He will be a free agent next spring, and at 25 years old, could be in position for a nice payday.<\/p>\n
At Spotrac his market value is listed at\u00a0$14.8 million per year, and he is slated for a four-year, $59.3 million contract. That could even be undervalued, considering how Wright has played and the way the league\u2019s salary cap is slated to rise.<\/p>\n
Wright played just four games in 2024, as a torn triceps injury ended his season in October.<\/p>\n
Wright has worked well\u00a0in tandem with Garrett, and he has shown himself to be a piece to build around.<\/p>\n
At\u00a0The Athletic last month before the trade deadline, it was noted\u00a0that Wright\u2019s future might be tied to that of\u00a0Isaiah McGuire: \u201cThe Browns might want to keep and eventually extend Wright. \u2026 But defensive end Isaiah McGuire is still under contract through 2026, and assuming Myles Garrett remains in the long-term plans, the team probably has to choose between Wright and McGuire at some point fairly soon.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf a market for pass-rush help develops over the next week, the Browns can try to get something semi-significant for Wright. If they don\u2019t trade Wright, they can eventually sign him to an extension.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wright will, no doubt, be missed in Week 11 if he can\u2019t go. The\u00a0Ravens\u00a0have won three straight games and have\u00a0Lamar Jackson\u00a0back at quarterback, which is trouble for the Browns. Jackson threw for four touchdowns in the first meeting of the teams, a 41-17 win, but missed three games with injuries in October.<\/p>\n
In general, the Ravens are getting healthier.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d say, some new faces in there,\u201d Stefanski said. \u201cSome guys that were injured, didn\u2019t play in our first game, and now are back. Had the trade there, a couple trades there on defense, so moving some pieces around to different spots. So, just evolving I would say.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The\u00a0Cincinnati Bengals\u00a0quietly made a few roster moves over the last few days that had nothing to do with the return of quarterback Joe Burrow. One of those\u00a0Bengals\u00a0roster moves, too, is a big…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hot-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t