At one point in time, the biggest cut candidate for the Cincinnati Bengals appeared to be TJ Slaton.
Even before the Bengals traded for Dexter Lawrence, Slaton seemed like a cut candidate. The front office had signed Jonathan Allen in free agency to join the logjam with BJ Hill, Kris Jenkins and others.
Tack on the fact the Bengals would save roughly $6.4 million by cutting Slaton and the idea made sense.
Bengals brass and coaches must have seen the online discourse through because they went from rarely talking about Slaton to bringing him up often in media sessions.
Fast forward to OTAs? Slaton is just focused on showing up each day and proving he belongs.
“Just putting one foot after the other—it is what it is,” Slaton told WLWT’s Charlie Clifford. “It is a business at the end of the day, and you have to control the things that you can control. If I can show up here every day, work hard, put my best foot forward, and have a good attitude, then that is what I’m going to do.”
Slaton wasn’t bad last year, but the overall miserable showing by the defense and line made it easy to comb the salary cap list and coaching comments to work to certain conclusions.
That said, it’ll be interesting to see how things play out over the summer. Lawrence, Allen and Hill are locks and they put a big investment in Jenkins. There are only so many interior spots on the final 53, especially when, in this scheme, edge guys can kick inside.
Jenkins might be more of a cut candidate than Slaton now, but as the veteran mentioned, a strong summer is a must for the majority of the line.
This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Former Bengals cut candidate speaks out about role
Reporting by Chris Roling, Bengals Wire / Bengals Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
