Bengals Player Profile: Gary Brightwell fighting to make a roster for the first time in three years
Gary Brightwell may have the best chance to convince the Cincinnati Bengals to carry four on the roster instead of three, but the odds of that happening are still rather low.
We’re 46 days away from the Cincinnati Bengals’ preseason finale against the Philadelphia Eagles. Every player on the Bengals’ 90-man roster will have a profile leading up to final cuts. Check out previous player profiles here.
The next player in the series has lived on practice squads in recent years.
Gary Brightwell Player Profile
Age: 28
Year: 4th
Position: Running back
College: Arizona
Jersey Number: 32
Gary Brightwell was originally drafted No. 196 overall in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft by the New York Giants. Prior to the NFL, Brightwell played four years of college football (2017-2020) at Arizona, playing 40 games and rushing for 1,305 yards and nine touchdowns. He made New York’s roster as a rookie and played in 13 games, but his most active season was in 2022 when he played in all 17 games and rushed for 141 yards and his first career touchdown. He played seven games in 2023.
The Giants waived Brightwell during the 2024 offseason. The Jacksonville Jaguars signed him right before the preseason and waived him during final cuts. The Cleveland Browns signed him to their practice squad, where he would spend the first half of the season. Cincinnati then signed him to its practice squad in Week 11 and would stay there for the rest of the season. He was retained on a futures deal and cut leading up to the 2025 season before being signed back to the practice squad for the rest of the year.
Contract details
Brightwell signed another futures contract with the Bengals at the beginning of the offseason. He’s under contract for one-year, $1,145,000. His base salary, cash figure, and salary cap hit is all $1.145 million.
Roster outlook
We have never seen Brightwell play a regular season snap for Cincinnati since entering the locker room nearly two years ago. He’s been on the practice squad all that time, and his situation may not be changing this year.
The Bengals have more running backs in danger of being cut than likely to make the team. Brightwell is joined by Kendall Milton, and undrafted free agent signings Jamal Haynes, and Kentrell Bullock rounding out the room behind Chase Brown, Samaje Perine, and Tahj Brooks.
Brightwell, along with Milton, may have the best chance to convince Cincy to carry four on the roster instead of three. A more plausible outcome is Brightwell makes the roster at the beginning of the season due to injuries above him.
Roster odds: 15%