We’re 20 days away from the Cincinnati Bengals’ preseason finale against the Philadelphia Eagles. Each and every player we get closer to the end of the preseason and final cuts, we’re reaching the top of the Bengals’ 90-man roster in our daily profile series. Check out previous player profiles here.

The next player in the series cannot be forgotten when discussing Cincinnati’s high-powered offense.

Chase Brown Player Profile

Age: 26
Year: 4th
Position: Running back
College: Illinois
Jersey Number: 30

Chase Brown was selected No. 163 overall in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft by the Bengals. Prior to the NFL, he spent four years at Illinois (2019-2022) following his true freshman season at Western Michigan (2018). He started 27 of the 34 games he played for the Fighting Illini, rushing for 3,206 yards and 18 touchdowns. He took over as the bell cow back in 2022, leading the Big 10 in carries (328) and churning out the fourth-most yards in the nation (1,643).

Cincinnati drafted Brown the year Samaje Perine left in free agency and shortly before Joe Mixon took a pay cut. He started out as a reserve behind Mixon in the beginning of the season and eventually grew into Mixon’s main backup after returning from a midseason injury. He entered 2024 as the No. 2 behind new starter Zack Moss, but essentially took over as the starter after the first four weeks. Moss’ season-ending injury in Week 8 sealed Brown’s role, but he fell just short of 1,000 rushing yards on the year when an injury of his own took him out at the end of Week 17.

Brown’s third year started very slow as the Bengals offense initially struggled without Joe Burrow. He started stringing together productive weeks when Joe Flacco took over under center, and finished the year on an efficient note while crossing the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in his career with 1,019 yards. He’s amassed 2,806 yards from scrimmage and 22 total touchdowns over the last two seasons.

Contract details

Brown is entering the last year of his four-year, $4,126,156 rookie contract. The deal has essentially ballooned to a total value of $6,588,490 as his 2026 base salary increased to $3,674,000 from $1,145,000 when he qualified for a Level-One Proven Performance Escalator (PPE) as a non-first-rounder who’s played a lot of football after three years. His base salary is also the amount of cash he will earn this season. When adding his signing bonus proration of $71,539, his salary cap hit for the year is $3,745,539.

Roster outlook

Cincinnati has been constructing its run game around Brown for the last two years, and there’s more progress to be made. It’s why the offense is currently prioritizing under center work. The more ways they can generate explosive opportunities for Brown, the more the entire game plan opens up.

Brown is the Bengals’ focus at the RB position. The question is how long that will be the case. He’s eligible for an extension right now, and with how much the market has increased for the top backs in the league, it may be wise to get a deal done before the season begins if they wish to keep him for the next few years.

Roster odds: 100%