Bengals Roster Breakdown: Cam Taylor-Britt brings the juice every time he drops back in coverage

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've got cornerback Cam […]

John Sheeran — Cincinnati Bengals News Writer
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Cam Taylor-Britt
© Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

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've got cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt on the docket. "Juice" is already a vocal leader on the Bengals' defense and he's not even 25 years old. He's had to grow up quickly as a starter, and while there's a competition happening on the other side of the defense at cornerback, no one is taking CTB's spot any time soon.

Cam Taylor-Britt

  • Age: 24
  • Year: 3rd
  • Position: Cornerback
  • College: Nebraska
  • Previous Teams: None
  • Jersey Number: 29

Taylor-Britt was drafted by the Bengals with the 60th overall pick in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft. He spent four years at Nebraska and played every single season starting with 11 games as a true freshman in 2018. He earned his first start as a sophomore in 2019 at strong safety where he played the following seven games before settling in at cornerback late in the year. He was an All-Big Ten honorable mention after leading the Huskers in interceptions (3) and earned the program's Boyd Epley Lifter of the Year Award for his work in the weight room. He led the team in interceptions (2) again in 2020 along with passes defensed (6) which earned him Second Team All-Big Ten honors. In 2021, Taylor-Britt was named a team captain and led the way with a career-high 12 passes defensed and 51 tackles on his way to one more Second Team All-Big Ten honor. 

With Cincinnati needing a cornerback to develop alongside Chidobe Awuzie and Eli Apple, the club performed a rare trade up at the end of the second round in the 2022 draft to land Taylor-Britt. The Bengals sacrificed a sixth-round pick to move up from the 63rd pick to the 60th to take their first corner in three years. 

A core muscle injury kept Taylor-Britt off the field for the first six weeks of his rookie season, but with Apple struggling at the midseason point, Taylor-Britt made his first start in Week 8. The timing proved to be faithful as Awuzie tore his ACL the very same game, which put Apple and Taylor-Britt on the field together to end the season. He experienced some growing pains out the gate, but started to settle in towards the playoff push. His best game was the Divisional Round victory over the Buffalo Bills in which he helped shut down Stefon Diggs and snag his first interception to seal the win in the final minute.

There was no doubt that Taylor-Britt earned the right to uphold his starting job in 2023, and his breakout season was coming together in the middle of the year. He recorded four interceptions from Week 5-10 which included another shutdown outing against Buffalo in primetime. But like an injury delayed the start of his first season, another injury interrupted the conclusion of his second season. He missed five games with a quad injury, but returned for the final two weeks. A potential Pro Bowl season was lost as the Bengals were eliminated from playoff contention upon his return.

Contract details

Taylor-Britt is entering the third year of his four-year, $5,952,730 rookie contract. He will earn a base salary of $1,246,158 for the 2024 season.

When adding on the $1,509,256 signing bonus that has be prorated throughout the entirety of his deal, Taylor-Britt's cap hit for the season will be $1,623,472.

Roster outlook

Amid all the turnover in the secondary, the Bengals can at least rely on Taylor-Britt and Mike Hilton as beacons of stability. No one knows for sure whom the third starting cornerback will be alongside them, but Taylor-Britt is setting himself up to be one of the highest-paid players on the Bengals when he becomes eligible for an extension next offseason. 

A season full of interceptions and health will get him there in time.  

Projected role: Top starting cornerback

Previous player breakdowns

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