Bengals Roster Breakdown: Travis Bell's chance at stability in Cincinnati may be out of his control

Throughout the summer leading up to the regular season, we will go through the entire 2024 Cincinnati Bengals roster. Every single day until the season opener against the New England Patriots, we will break down a player on the roster including his background, contract status, and path towards making the team.Today, we reacquaint ourselves with […]

John Sheeran — Cincinnati Bengals News Writer
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Travis Bell
© David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

Throughout the summer leading up to the regular season, we will go through the entire 2024 Cincinnati Bengals roster. Every single day until the season opener against the New England Patriots, we will break down a player on the roster including his background, contract status, and path towards making the team.

Today, we reacquaint ourselves with defensive tackle Travis Bell. A year after being drafted, Bell is already on his third NFL team in Cincinnati. His rookie season was full of new beginnings, and now he's looking for some stability with the Bengals.

Travis Bell

  • Age: 25
  • Year: 2nd
  • Position: Defensive tackle
  • College: Kennesaw State
  • Previous Teams: Chicago Bears, Atlanta Falcons
  • Jersey Number: 53

Bell was drafted by the Bears with the 218th overall pick in the seventh round of the 2023 NFL Draft, becoming the first player from Kennesaw State to be drafted into the league. He played five years (54 games) for the Owls and had his best year in terms of backfield production as a true sophomore in 2019. He registered five sacks and nine tackles for loss that season, both of which ended up being career highs. He earned second-team All-Big South Conference honors as a senior in 2021 thanks to four sacks and six tackles for loss. 

After being selected with the first pick of the final round of last year's draft, Bell fought for a spot on Chicago's initial 53-man roster. He was unsuccessful and was a part of final cuts leading up to the regular season. The Bears brought him back on the practice squad, where he spent the first eight weeks of the season.

The Falcons signed Bell to their active roster in Week 9, and he ended up playing two games for Atlanta. He made his debut in Week 14 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and recorded his first career tackle. The Falcons waived him two weeks later, and Cincinnati claimed him after losing DJ Reader for the season. He was inactive for the only three games remaining on the Bengals' schedule. Due to his prior contract, Cincinnati didn't have to re-sign him this offseason.

Contract details

Bell is entering the second year of his two-year, $1,665,000 contract. He will be paid the minimum salary for a player with one accrued season this year.

His salary will cost $915,00 for the entire season if he's kept on the team for the entire regular season, and his cap hit for the year is the same amount.

Roster chances

Bell was added to the Bengals' roster solely because of Reader's season-ending injury last December. Cincinnati barely had enough defensive tackles to make it through the rest of the year, and Bell became emergency depth if needed. 

Reader is gone for good now, but the Bengals will have to incur even more future injuries at the position for Bell to make this year's roster.

After signing Sheldon Rankins to start for potentially the next two seasons, the Bengals drafted Kris Jenkins and McKinnley Jackson with top-100 picks to fill out the position along with B.J. Hill. Add Zach Carter in a make-or-break third season, and the group looks mighty full at the moment. Five is typically the max for DTs in Cincinnati.

Much like Domenique Davis and Devonnsha Maxwell, Bell's most likely path to staying in town is coming back on the practice squad. There are just too many names in front of him to have a good chance at making the 53. A fantastic training camp and preseason combined with Carter severely underwhelming or unexpected injuries is the only way that changes.

Chances of making the roster: 12%

Previous player breakdowns

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