Reader, Waynes and the rest of the Bengals free agent additions have finalized their contracts
CINCINNATI — The Bengals have finalized the contracts of all eight unrestricted free agents that they added this offseason.
The deals had already been agreed to, both the players and the Bengals had to wait until each player passed a physical conducted by a team doctor. Veterans took their physicals over the weekend.
That means D.J. Reader signed his four-year, $53 million contract. He was the headliner of an unprecedented flurry of free agent activity in Cincinnati.
“He’s consistent in about every area," Bengals Director of Player Personnel Duke Tobin said on Monday. "He can play a lot of snaps. He can play in different alignments. He has high energy. We feel like he will bring others along with him and we feel like he really fits our system and what we wanted to do. So specifically to the Cincinnati Bengals, he had a high value because of that. We were very excited to get him. Didn’t come in with a lot of fanfare, but he earned it the right and he became really a great player."
Trae Waynes, who was uneasy about not being able to finalize his contract earlier this offseason, can take a deep breath. The Bengals signed him to a three-year, $42 million contract.
They also added Vonn Bell, Mackensie Alexander, Josh Bynes, Xavier Su'a-Filo, LeShaun Sims and Mike Thomas in free agency.
All 80 players on the roster will report to Paul Brown Stadium for the first time on Tuesday to begin the strength and conditioning portion of training camp.
It'll be the first time the rookies and the veterans will be together in person. That means Joe Burrow will finally be able to throw passes to A.J. Green and Tyler Boyd.
For more on the Bengals, including the latest training camp news, go here.
