Bengals exercise an advantage no other team had in signing former top-40 NFL Draft pick to their practice squad
A reunion on multiple fronts for the Bengals’ newest player.
The Cincinnati Bengals are in the process of tweaking their roster following Week 1, and the first step is signing defensive end Isaiah Foskey, as first reported by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
Foskey, the 40th overall pick from the 2023 NFL Draft, spent his first two years in the league with the New Orleans Saints and played in 27 games for them. He was released by New Orleans during final cuts this year.
Now in his third year, Foskey had options for his next stop. Cincinnati became his choice because of one reason in particular.
Isaiah Foskey chose the Bengals because of Al Golden
Foskey played his final year of college ball at Notre Dame in 2022, which was Al Golden’s first year as the Fighting Irish’s defensive coordinator. Golden is now the DC in Cincinnati, and that was a “big selling point” for Foskey landing on the Bengals over other interested teams such as the Chicago Bears and Philadelphia Eagles, per NFL insider Jordan Schultz.
Foskey put together a very productive campaign under Golden in ’22, posting team-highs in sacks (11) and tackles for loss (14). That level of production just never followed him to NOLA, as stated by A to Z Sports’ Saints beat writer Adam Holt:
“Foskey will forever be an enigma for the Saints draft history. After being a dynamic, productive pass rusher during his college days at Notre Dame, Foskey never found any sort of footing in black and gold — opposed to navy and gold. Foskey totaled just a half of a sack in regular season play for New Orleans over two full seasons. The defender never started a game after being a second-round pick and struggled to see consistent time on special teams, either. He was cut this offseason when the Saints trimmed their group down for the season opener.
“Back with Al Golden, his college DC, he understands Foskey’s skillset and may still retain hope that he could help turn Foskey into a rotational pass rusher. As of now, there’s just no evidence that will be the case — regardless of the defensive play caller involved.” — A to Z Sports’ Adam Holt
Cincinnati’s expectations for Foskey will be much lower than what the Saints wanted out him for a second-rounder. He’ll develop on the practice squad and could see playing time as an elevation should injuries arise.
On top of reuniting with Golden, Foskey also played all four years at ND with Bengals defensive tackle Howard Cross III. He was also in New Orleans when Cincinnati’s linebackers coach Mike Hodges held the same position.
Signing Foskey will require corresponding moves as the Bengals’ practice squad as the club entered Tuesday with the maximum 16 players. They could sign one of those 16 to the active roster if right guard Lucas Patrick gets placed on the Reserve/Injured list. Head coach Zac Taylor said Patrick, who suffered a calf injury in Week 1, would be out “a couple weeks” on Monday.
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