The Cincinnati Bengals have saved some cap space by cutting veteran cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick.
The move, first reported by Tyler Dragon of the Cincinnati Enquirer, saves the Bengals roughly $8 million.
This was a long-anticipated development for the Bengals — and especially so after the front office went out on the second day of legal tampering and agreed to terms with Trae Waynes, a starter who plays the boundary.
Kirkpatrick was previously a cap hit of roughly $11 million in 2020 (5.3 percent of the total cap) as a top-five cap hit. That wasn’t going to work at all this offseason, let alone after doling out north of $40 million for Waynes on a deal that pays him about $20 million in Year 1.
This move comes in the wake of the Bengals also losing former first-round pick Darqueze Dennard to the Jacksonville Jaguars in free agency.
Kirkpatrick was a first-round pick by the Bengals in 2012 and appeared in 99 games over his first eight seasons with the team.
