The Cincinnati Bengals have some important decisions to make in 2021 NFL free agency, when a trio of key or former starters in wide receiver A.J. Green, pass rusher Carl Lawson and cornerback William Jackson III are scheduled to hit the open market. They might also be saying goodbye to one of their best players of the last decade, with general manager Duke Tobin telling reporters Monday he's uncertain of what lies ahead for Geno Atkins, even though the former Pro Bowl defensive tackle is under contract through 2022.
Asked about Atkins' status with the team moving forward, Tobin was brief and ambiguous: "We'll see."
Not exactly a ringing endorsement for a lifelong Bengal, eight-time Pro Bowler and honorary member of the NFL's 2010s All-Decade Team, but also not a surprise considering the 32-year-old defender carries a lofty salary into 2021. Atkins, who turns 33 later this month, is due $14.7 million this season, the second-to-last of a four-year, $62.5 million extension signed in 2018. He's also fresh off the least productive year of his 11-year career, missing half the season due to shoulder surgery.
Earlier in the day, Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer listed Atkins as one of several big-name veterans being floated on the trade market, suggesting that he'll "probably be cut if he's not traded." By either releasing or dealing Atkins, the Bengals would save $9.5 million in 2021, not to mention the $16 million he's due in 2022.
For much of his career, Atkins was considered one of the NFL's top interior defensive linemen. A fourth-round draft pick out of Georgia in 2010, he appeared in all 16 games in nine of his first 10 seasons, thrice recording double-digit sack totals and earning All-Pro nods in 2011, 2012 and 2015. From 2015-2018, Atkins never logged fewer than nine sacks in a season.
