Bengals now have to work through a disaster scenario with one of their brightest young players
The Cincinnati Bengals are now preparing to play without tight end Erick All Jr. until 2026. Per The Athletic's Paul Dehner Jr., All isn't expected to play during the 2025 season due to "complications" with his past ACL surgery in college. He re-tore the same ACL this past season. All, who tore his ACL on […]
The Cincinnati Bengals are now preparing to play without tight end Erick All Jr. until 2026.
Per The Athletic's Paul Dehner Jr., All isn't expected to play during the 2025 season due to "complications" with his past ACL surgery in college. He re-tore the same ACL this past season.
All, who tore his ACL on Nov. 3 against the Raiders, is expected to miss the 2025 season due to complications from a previous knee surgery in college, according to team and league sources. The fix requires two knee surgeries instead of just one. – The Athletic's Paul Dehner Jr.
This whole timeline goes back to October 14, 2023, the day All suffered a torn ACL for Iowa. The injury ended his college career and impacted his eventual draft status. The Bengals selected him in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
All had surgery on his knee and recovered surprisingly quick. He was able to participate in nearly all of his first training camp in Cincinnati and missed zero games to start the regular season. He emerged as a key role player in the offense despite being one of the greener members of a deep tight end group, primarily due to his blocking versatility.
Nine games into the season, All re-tore the same ACL against the Las Vegas Raiders, ending his rookie season. The fact that it's the same ligament that was previously operated on gave way to potential complications, and sure enough, two surgeries are required.
According to Dehner, All has already undergone the first surgery, but the second operation is "expected in the coming months" which will only extend the recovery timeline. NFL players can usually recover from ACL surgeries after about nine months nowadays, so if All isn't expected to have surgery until another few months, that will all but surely take the rest of 2025 off the table.
Bengals tight ends under contract
The Bengals ensured last week that Cam Grandy, another tight end coming off a promising rookie season, was locked in for the '25 season by extending his contract for another year. Grandy joins just two other players at the position under contract for the season:
- Drew Sample
- Erick All Jr. (injured)
- Cam Grandy
- Tanner McLachlan
Sample was the offense's main starter, and McLachlan, another rookie from last season, played a total of five snaps. Mike Gesicki and Tanner Hudson are scheduled to become free agents, and the expectation should now be that at least one of them is re-signed this offseason, and another addition (or two) is likely to join the fray.
All will have at least two years remaining on his rookie contract if he does make a full recovery for 2026, but the Bengals have to navigate without him for at least another full year.
Bengals 2025 Impending Free Agents: Complete list of all 23 players with expiring contracts
Cincinnati’s offseason begins now.
