On its own, the Cincinnati Bengals cutting Germaine Pratt would be a perfectly fine, normal football move accepted by most fans.
Instead, the Bengals dragged the process out and turned plenty of people against them along the way.
Pratt’s fate was the most obvious thing about the offense in Cincinnati. The three-year deal worth $20 million in 2023 turned out to be a mistake. Getting that roughly $5 million in savings right now was a no-brainer. Pratt’s unit collapsed last season while he missed a huge number of tackles and was dismissive in the media about it. His reputation with the online portion of the fanbase had been so-so since the screaming at Joseph Ossai thing a few years ago, as it was.
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But the Bengals botched it. Pratt’s combination of age (29), performance, and contract simply weren’t tradeable. It didn’t help that other teams knew what everyone else did and weren’t going to offer much in return.
Rather than just cut ties with Pratt to let him have a good chance at finding another team on the market (like they did with Alex Cappa and others), the Bengals kept Pratt locked down. They added Oren Burks in free agency, then added two linebackers over the course of the six picks in the draft with Demetrius Knight and Barrett Carter. Still, the Bengals clung to Pratt.
That’s not how a team should treat any player, let alone a captain responsible for some of the biggest plays in franchise history, topped by the famous interception against the Raiders to end the playoff win drought. It’s an odd thing, really, to make a routine offseason move with a player fans are ready to move on from, a controversial thing that swings public opinion back in favor of the player, yet here the Bengals are.
Maybe this smacks as melodramatic, but when the Bengals choose to be a team that is stingy with money and rely on silly things like loyalty when recruiting free agents, they can’t really afford PR hits like this. Players and agents see and remember these types of things.
The Bengals will probably never throw out the why behind this prolonged process with Pratt, but given the stadium fight, the contract standoff with All-Pros and first-round picks alike right now, it’s extremely hard to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Tell me, without telling me — Germaine Pratt was never going to be back in Cincinnati this fall.
Duke Tobin said it without saying it.
It just took 4 months to make it official.#Bengals@WCPOpic.twitter.com/DHNP5eyuFK
— Caleb Noe (@CalebNoeTV) June 10, 2025
A move that was inevitable six months ago finally happens. What a ridiculous charade that it took this long.
Pratt is responsible for one of the most memorable moments in team history and was a centerpiece of great, championship defenses. He deserved better on the way out. https://t.co/sZHcjS7bci
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) June 9, 2025
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This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Bengals earn terrible optics with Germaine Pratt release