Bengals 2025 Roster Breakdown: Nate Brooks continues his quest for a return to regular season action

Bengals roster breakdown is back! During the 99 days leading up to Cincinnati's regular season opener against the Cleveland Browns, the player with the matching jersey number as days remaining will become the day's highlighted player.41 days remain until the Bengals' first game of the 2025 season, giving No. 41 Nate Brooks the floor on this […]

John Sheeran — Cincinnati Bengals News Writer
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Aug 17, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bears wide receiver Tyler Scott (10) is tackled after a catch by Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Nate Brooks (41) and linebacker Shaka Heyward (50) during the third quarter at Soldier Field.
© Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images

Bengals roster breakdown is back! During the 99 days leading up to Cincinnati's regular season opener against the Cleveland Browns, the player with the matching jersey number as days remaining will become the day's highlighted player.

41 days remain until the Bengals' first game of the 2025 season, giving No. 41 Nate Brooks the floor on this Monday morning.

Nate Brooks

Age: 30
Year: 8th
Position: Cornerback
College: North Texas
Previous Teams: Arizona Cardinals (2019), New England Patriots (2019), Miami Dolphins (2019-20), Baltimore Ravens (2020), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2021), Tennessee Titans (2021, 2022), Arizona Cardinals (2021-22), Las Vegas Raiders (2022), San Francisco 49ers (2023)
Jersey Number: 41

Brooks enters his seventh season in the NFL and second with the Bengals after going undrafted during the 2019 NFL Draft. He spent four years at North Texas, playing in 48 games and had the third-most interceptions in the country as a senior in 2018.

As seen above, Brooks has seen a good chunk of the NFL through six years. He's even played for the USFL's Birmingham Stallions in 2022 and 2023 and the UFL's Michigan Panthers in 2024. Those were the last times he played professional football outside of an NFL preseason environment as the last NFL regular season game he played in was for the Ravens in 2020. Because of this, he's only accrued one year in the league.

Brooks was signed by the Bengals at the onset of training camp in 2024 and was waived during final cuts. He was added back to the practice squad and stayed there for the entire season.

Contract Details

Brooks signed a one-year, $960,000 contract with the Bengals this offseason. $960,000 represents his total potential cash earnings and salary cap hit for the 2025 season.

Roster Outlook

Brooks may not be used to dressing for games in the fall, but competing in practice is something he's intimately familiar with. That's why Cincinnati retained him on the practice squad and kept him around this offseason as well. He's quietly the second-oldest player in the entire secondary, and while he's on the outside looking in at the cornerback room right now, a couple injuries would put him right in contention for the final roster spot.

Expect to see plenty of Brooks during the preseason as he makes his case to stick around for another year, or tries his luck with one of the few teams he hasn't been a part of yet.

Roster odds: 15%
Projected role: Reserve cornerback

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