Bengals immediately put Joe Burrow’s contract restructure to use by completing their final mandatory task of the offseason
Cashius Howell was the only unsigned player remaining from the Bengals’ 2026 NFL Draft class. He’s now the 90th contract the club officially has on the books.
Mere minutes following the announcement of Joe Burrow’s contract restructure, the Cincinnati Bengals signed rookie defensive end Cashius Howell to his rookie contract.
Howell was the only unsigned player remaining from Cincy’s 2026 NFL Draft class. He’s now the 90th contract the club officially has on the books.
Cashius Howell Stats & Facts
What to know about Cincy’s top draft pick
- Howell was born and raised in Kansas City, Mo. He grew up a Kansas City Chiefs fan, and attended Bowling Green State University the first three years of his college career.
- Texas A&M landed Howell in the transfer portal exiting the 2023 season. The then 21-year old played alongside Shemar Stewart for the Aggies.
- Howell was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year in 2025 after racking up 14.5 tackles for loss and 11 sacks.
Howell was the No. 41 pick in the draft. Many players drafted right before and after him have already signed their rookie deals, but the Bengals took a bit longer to get their second-round pick under contract. There are a couple reasons why.
Confirming Joe Burrow’s restructure appeared to be crucial
Howell’s contract is expected to feature a salary cap hit of $2.2 million for 2026. That’s not a large number, but it would’ve cut into Cincy’s approximate $7 million in space even with the offseason top 51 offset rules in place.
Burrow’s restructure, which opened up $10 million in cap space, gave the Bengals plenty of breathing room to fit Howell’s deal on the books without it cutting space down even closer to the cap.
Again, Howell’s cap hit was not going to prevent Cincinnati from being cap compliant. The club clearly just wanted to make sure the space was created first.
Cashius Howell’s rookie contract was predetermined to be fully guaranteed
Cincinnati also knew Howell’s deal needed to be 100% guaranteed when players drafted behind him received fully guaranteed deals. Howell’s side of the negotiation gained all the leverage when players selected after him paved the way.
The Bengals had never fully guaranteed a second-round pick’s contract before. They didn’t have a choice with Howell. Figuring out the language of the contract was the only obstacle left, and Howell never seemed worrisome about that part. He signed the participation waiver prior to last month’s rookie minicamp, and predicted his deal would be done within a few weeks.
“Yeah, I had signed the contract to be out here with minicamp,” Howell said in May. “I’m not really tripping about, you know, playing while my contract’s still being negotiated. You know, I love football. I love being on the field, so anytime I can get out there, get in the cleats, it’s a plus one for me.”
Howell said and did all the right things, and now is locked in through the 2029 season. The Bengals have all 90 players on their roster under contract, and have about $16 million in cap space.