1 year agoThe Cincinnati Bengals re-signed tight end
Drew Sample to a three-year, $10.5 million contract extension on Monday, according to a source. Sample will receive $3.5 million in 2024. In his fifth year with the Bengals in 2023, Sample had 22 catches on 27 targets for 163 yards and a career-high two touchdowns in 17 games (10 starts).
Tanner Hudson,
Mitchell Wilcox and
Irv Smith Jr. are all free agents, but one or more of them could be retained or the Bengals could add competition at the position through the NFL draft. The 27-year-old Sample has accumulated just 80 receptions (103 targets) for 621 yards and three touchdowns in his five years in the NFL with Cincy, so it would be unrealistic to expect the Bengals to utilize him as their unquestioned No. 1 pass-catching TE in 2024.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: NFL Network - Tom Pelissero
1 year agoCincinnati Bengals tight end
Drew Sample (illness) is officially active for the Week 15 game on Saturday against the Minnesota Vikings despite being a late addition to the injury report on Friday and being given a questionable tag. The 27-year-old might be a little under the weather, but he will be active and continue in a committee role at the tight end position for the Bengals alongside
Irv Smith Jr.,
Tanner Hudson and
Mitchell Wilcox. Sample played a season-high 67 percent of the offensive snaps in the Week 14 win over the Indianapolis Colts, but it led to only two receptions for four yards. It's hard for fantasy managers to really trust any of Cincy's tight ends in this committee, especially with quarterback
Joe Burrow (wrist) done for the year. Sample has only 14 receptions for 97 yards and two touchdowns on the year in 13 games played.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: Cincinnati Bengals
1 year agoCincinnati Bengals tight end
Drew Sample (illness) has been added to the Week 15 injury report and is now questionable to play on Saturday against the Minnesota Vikings. Sample hasn't been on the fantasy radar in 2023 with only 14 catches on 17 targets for 97 yards and two touchdowns in 13 games played. If he's still not feeling good on Saturday and is held out, it would mean slightly more playing time for
Tanner Hudson,
Irv Smith Jr. and
Mitchell Wilcox at the tight end position for the Bengals. Hudson only played 23 percent of the offensive snaps in the Week 14 win over the Indianapolis Colts but had two catches for 21 yards and his first touchdown of the year. Smith hasn't caught a pass since Week 12 and played just 13 percent of the snaps last weekend. Fantasy managers can probably find better streaming options than Hudson and Smith in Week 15.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: The Cincinnati Enquirer - Charlie Goldsmith
2 years agoCincinnati Bengals tight end
Drew Sample (knee), who missed all but one game last year with a torn MCL and PCL, wasn't supposed to be cleared until training camp. However, he was able to get into the team's last three practices, chalking it up to the team's light schedule that allowed him to get into 7-on-7 drills during the spring. Sample, a former second-round pick by the Bengals in 2019 out of Washington, had his best season in 2020 when he had caught 40 of his 53 targets for 349 yards and one touchdown in 16 games (13 starts). The 27-year-old has never had a big role in Cincy's offense and probably won't in 2023, either, unless the injury-prone
Irv Smith Jr. goes down with another injury.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: Bengals.com - Geoff Hobson
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