BREAKING: Bengals Sign 3 Free Agents Ft. UFL Offensive Player Of The Year | Bengals Free Agency

[Music] welcome into Bengals breakdown once again I am your host Stone Shields thank you so much for joining us and for the second time this week we have a little bit of breaking news coming into the fold as the Bengals have made a flurry of free agent signings leading up to their day three of training camp here on Friday as you can tell they have signed three guys cornerback Nate Brooks wide receiver Hakeem Butler and punter Ryan Rico so all these guys coming in you know they haven't been proven they haven't played much in the NFL but it certainly adds some depth it adds some competition for the Cincinnati Bengals an important note now the Bengals have reached their 90 man roster limit so they are full and then eventually they will begin to cut down as a training camp of course in the pre-season progresses but make sure you guys are subscribed to our channel here at Bengals breakdown because when Bengals breaking news strikes we got you covered with a video happened earlier this week with the Trent BR Trent Brown injury news and it's happening again with these free agent signings for the Cincinnati Bengals so once again make sure you hit that sub button that's youtube.com/ balv the first player that was announced that the Bengals would be signing was Nate Brooks NFL Insider Jordan Brook uh Jordan Schultz was all over this as well as Mike garolo of the NFL Network so we've talked at length throughout the off season that cornerback is probably the weakest position the Cincinnati Bengals have to deal with along with that running back spot so we questioned whether or not they would bring in any names figured they wouldn't bring in any make any splashy moves because that typically doesn't uh fall in line with the type of things that the Bengals do but they do make a signing bringing in a veteran taking a look at a little information here on Nate Brooks um he hasn't played in the NFL since 2020 and he most recent L was a member of the 49ers last year during training camp and he's only played in four games you know he's been around a lot played a lot of football but has only played in four regular season games four since uh four uh you know teams in the NFL the Dolphins as well as the Baltimore Ravens like I said recently was uh most recently a member of the San Francisco 49ers and um you know he's a guy that is a veteran right he's played a lot of football and he can certainly perhaps Mentor some of the younger guys that the Bengals have at those quarterback spots in Dax Hill in DJ Turner um you know as far as whether or not he's going to make the team look to be completely honest with you I don't know if any of these guys are going to make the team but they're just extra bodies to be brought in provide some competition be there in case you know injuries happen or of course if one of them pop and go crazy then they certainly have an opportunity to perhaps make the team so do me a favor in the comments section let me know right now what grade you would give this Nate Brook signing it's certainly a position that the Bengals could use a little bit more depth they bring it in here with a guy a UFL guy like Nate Brooks so do us a favor in the comments section let us know what you think graded ABC D or F taking a look at his career to this point right he was a udfa in 2019 with the Cardinals again you've got a lot of NFL teams listed on this list but he has only uh played NFL football in terms of the regular season season for the Dolphins and the Ravens and it was only a total of four games so the rest of this stuff you're looking at practice squad stuff as well as just being a member of a team during training camp per se but he's had some success outside the NFL right he had was all UFL honors um you know with the Michigan Panthers uh this uh most recent year uh for the UFL so that's you know he's one of the best players in the UFL that certainly says a lot you know those leagues they still have talented football players albeit not at the professional level so to speak and he also won a championship with the usfl uh with the Birmingham stallions prior to that uh the year before so you know he a guy that's had some success he's been around some winning played his college ball at North Texas and like I said hasn't really played much in the National Football League whatsoever 11 tackles two pass breakups in his four games this is what the Bengals depth chart at cornerback looks like um again he's not going to be able to go out there and compete for a starting spot that would be absolutely ludicrous right but could he be one of the 10 you know defensive backs that make the 53 man roster he's got a chance but my money is not on that in case something crazy happens in the pre-season so at this point certainly just an extra body and uh you know uh someone that the Bengals could bring in to perhaps provide some toage for some some of the younger guys and he's an experienced football player and I'm sure he's a good locker room guy too if the Bengals are bringing him in another player that was signed by Cincinnati was Hakeem Butler wide receiver um also spent some time in the UFL right hasn't played much time uh doesn't have much time in the NFL whatsoever only appearing in two games in 2020 for the Philadelphia Eagles taking a look at his career here um you know again this is stuff that's practice squad stuff or just being a part of the team with uh from a training camp perspective seeing it most recently with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2023 but this is a guy that was really really good for the St Louis battle Hawks had AJ McCarron of course A Familiar name throwing him the Rock and he really went crazy during this year and he was the UFL offensive player of the year in 2024 put up a lot of great stats as you can tell here lots of yards he's a big frame too right I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Bengals Tred to transition him more to the title end spot cuz he's such a big physical guy but um again he's a guy that's going to have his work cut out for him in terms of making the roster but you know he gets a spot another crack at the National Football League with a training camp signage with the Cincinnati Bengals really quickly want to give a shout out to our friends over at game time because today's show is presented by game time and I love this summer because Major League Baseball is in full swing and I love making the walk down the street from our chat sports Offices here in downtown Cincinnati two great American Ballpark for a Reds game every chance that I get prices on the game time app actually go down the closer it gets to the first pitch so if you don't want to make that commitment a couple days out you want to be a little spontaneous wait a little bit before you decide to go to a game game time can help you out there with killer last minute deals all in prices views from your seat and their lowest price guaranteed game time takes the guesswork out of buying MLB tickets 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account and use code chat sports for $20 off first purchase check out gametime.co for last minute tickets terms apply again creating the account redeem code CH a SP o RTS for $20 off download game time today last minute tickets lowest price guarantee the third guy that the Bengals signed is a punter in Ryan Rico okay so now the punter competition is not just two guys with mnea and Brad Robbins but a third guy gets added into the mix here with Ryan Rico he went to BYU and this is the guy that the Chiefs signed as an un drafted free agent after the 2024 NFL draft but he was uh released very shortly after um he didn't last very long on the Kansas City Chiefs he actually got cut released shortly after and the Bengals pick him up here um here we are towards the end of July and he just adds a guide to that punter competition um as far as if he could be a guy to win that job I'd be shocked right um but I think you know the Bengals Darren Simmons he's doing his due diligence bringing in another guy you know testing out Brad Robbins because that's what Brad Robbins needs right he needs competition and um you know based off the year he had last year you can't just give him the job you got to push him a little bit and it makes it a little bit more challenging for him if you make it a three horse race instead of a two so I certainly like bringing in another punter and we know how important holding is for Cincinnati and Darren Simmons as well Brad ramens did a good job of that last year I thought despite his punting difficulties but Ryan Rico is a guy that was really uh great as a holder and these days that's almost just as important as being a punter is so be honest with us in the comments section right now and give us your one-word reaction to these three signings that the Bengals made here today on Friday before day three of Bengals training camp let us know what you think right now down in the comments section [Music]