Bengals extend backup QB, reunite with former draft pick

Teams regularly come to extension agreements with players to replace RFA tender numbers; the Bengals will move forward on this front with Jake Browning a year early.

Cincinnati’s backup quarterback agreed to terms on a two-year extension. Browning was tied to an ERFA tender. The team has announced the extension that could ensure the status quo remains on the Cincy QB depth chart for the foreseeable future.

With restricted free agency being the next step for Browning (in 2025), this agreement will tie him to the Bengals through the ’25 season. It keeps him on track for unrestricted free agency in 2026, but the Bengals will bypass the tender process and lock him down until then. This marks a notable commitment from the team for Browning, who had been the team’s third-stringer before Brandon Allen‘s 2023 exit. Joe Burrow‘s season-ending wrist injury last year elevated Browning’s profile.

While Browning’s near-half-season sample should be considered here, the former UDFA leading the NFL in completion percentage (70.4) during a season in which he averaged eight yards per attempt certainly impressed given his profile. Browning, 28, had been with the Bengals since September 2021. The Vikings waived Browning — a transaction he memorably reminded the NFC North team of after Cincinnati’s last-second win over Minnesota late last season — to set up his relocation.

Browning could not keep the Bengals afloat in the playoff race, but the team’s fortunes did not completely crater post-Burrow. The Bengals had already dug themselves an early hole, with Burrow’s training camp calf injury proving a considerable impediment once the season started. The Bengals won three of Browning’s first four starts, including a 34-31 overtime win over the Jaguars, featuring a 354-yard showing from the visitors’ backup QB. Browning added 275 yards and two touchdown passes in a 34-14 win over the Colts the next week. Although the Bengals stumbled down the stretch, they saw encouraging signs from their low-cost backup during Burrow’s absence.

In addition to Browning’s new terms, the Bengals signed Logan Woodside on Tuesday. This is a reunion for Woodside, who entered the NFL as a Bengals draft choice in 2018. This is an interesting addition because Zac Taylor was not yet with the team when that selection occurred. Woodside, 29, steps in as Cincy’s third QB.

Woodside’s initial Bengals stay proved short-lived; Marvin Lewis‘ team waived him in September 2018. The Toledo alum caught on with the Titans soon after and ended up staying with Tennessee until December 2022, when the Falcons — and ex-Titans OC Arthur Smith — added him to their active roster. Woodside has never made an NFL start, totaling 14 pass attempts, but he brings considerable experience for a potential third-string role.