We’re 11 days away from the Cincinnati Bengals’ preseason finale against the Philadelphia Eagles. Final cuts are less than two weeks away, so we’re wrapping up our player profile series featuring the entirety of the Bengals’ 90-man roster. Check out previous player profiles here.

The next name of the series is one going to be a key rotational player after starting all of last year.

T.J. Slaton Jr. Player Profile

Age: 28
Year: 6th
Position: Defensive tackle
College: Florida
Jersey Number: 98

T.J. Slaton Jr. was originally selected No. 173 overall in the fifth round of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers. Prior to the NFL, Slaton spent four seasons (2017-2020) at Florida, starting 14 of the 45 games he played for the Gators. He played in all 17 games in each of his first four seasons with the Packers. His first year as a full-time starter came in 2023 when he recorded a career-high 50 total tackles and two tackles for loss.

Green Bay changed defenses in 2024 and Slaton’s effectiveness in a new scheme wasn’t quite the same. Part of the change involved the Packers moving on from defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery, whom the Bengals hired last offseason. Slaton then became Cincinnati’s only 2025 free agent signing over $5 million per year.

The Bengals started Slaton in all 17 games last season. His snaps slowly decreased as the season progressed, and his quality of play did the opposite as a result. He registered nine pressures and eight defensive stops in the last six weeks of the year when he averaged 26.8 snaps per game. His season-long average was 34.2 snaps per game.

Contract details

Slaton is entering the second year of his tworee-year, $14,100,000 contract. His base salary is $5,720,000 this season, and can earn up to $340,000 in per game roster bonuses. He’s already earned a $100,000 workout bonus this offseason, and can earn up to $500,000 in likely to be earned incentives (50% playing time). When adding on his roster bonus proration of $2,500,000, his salary cap hit for the season comes out to $9,160,000.

Roster outlook

There was a real belief that Slaton was going to be released earlier in the offseason. A $9.16 million cap hit looked like a lot when Cincinnati had to add playmakers to its defensive front. The Bengals did bring in several new names to the unit, including a new starting nose tackle in Dexter Lawrence, and yet Slaton is still here. Joe Burrow’s contract restructure saving $10.4 million in cap space very likely saved Slaton’s job.

Slaton is sticking around to provide high-quality depth behind Lawrence, and there will be times when both players share the field as well. He was a passable starter last year, and now with his role reduced, his effectiveness should be even better. Cincy has envisioned a deep D-line for some time, and Slaton will help make it a reality. The 1% chance he’s not here is if the Bengals can use him as one of their most tradable assets leading up to the regular season.

Roster odds: 99%