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, defensive tackle Zach Carter gets the spotlight. The Bengals have leaned on the former third-round draft pick over the past two years as an important depth piece, but their return on investment hasn't been strong. Carter has a place on this roster if he fulfills his potential in a short period of time. The next three weeks may be the most important in his football life.
Zach Carter
- Age: 25
- Year: 3rd
- Position: Defensive tackle
- College: Florida
- Previous Teams: None
- Jersey Number: 95
Carter was drafted by the Bengals with the 95th overall pick in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft. He spent five years at Florida and was redshirted as a freshman in 2017. In his debut game in 2018, he blocked a field goal and became the first Gator to do so in nearly two years. He spent that season as a reserve and 2019 was more of the same outside of two starts late in the year. He became a full-time starter in 2020, starting 11 of 12 games and posting five sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss. He started all 12 games in 2021 and had his best season with eight sacks and 11 tackles for loss.
Florida listed Carter as a defensive tackle, but he played the majority of his snaps on the edge. The Bengals selected him with the intent of playing him early and often at defensive tackle, and had him put on weight prior to his rookie season. He was in line to be third in the rotation as a rookie alongside DJ Reader and Larry Ogunjobi. He played in all 19 games, including three postseason appearances, and logged 461 snaps in his role. He recorded his first career sack in Week 16 against the New England Patriots.
Outside of that sack, Carter wasn't very productive as a pass-rusher or in run defense. Cincinnati needed him to play due to lack of depth, but he was overmatched often as a rookie. He increased his pressures from five as a rookie to 13 in 2023, but the tape has typically been underwhelming for the former third-round pick. Now he has more competition in order to see the field if he makes it through final cuts this month.
Contract details
Carter is in the third year of his four-year, $5,079,936 rookie contract. He will earn a base salary of $1,166,812 for the 2024 season.
When adding on his signing bonus of $874,500 that's prorated throughout the deal, Carter's cap hit for the season will be $1,385,437. If the Bengals decide to cut him, they'd save $948,187 in cap space.
Roster chances
By the end of April, Carter found himself no higher than fifth on the depth chart at defensive tackle, a position that may only have four players on the initial 53-man roster. Sheldon Rankins, Kris Jenkins, and McKinnley Jackson all coming in to play with B.J. Hill creates a solid group, and Carter's goal is to simply remain a part of it.
There's no doubt that Carter will get plenty of playing time in all three preseason games. He not only needs the reps to prove he's taken a major step forward, the Bengals simply need him out there. Injuries have hit the defensive line hard in training camp as both Jackson and fellow roster hopeful Domenique Davis are week-to-week. Cincinnati signed Joshua Pryor and Carlos Davis just to have enough bodies for the month leading up to final cuts.
Staying healthy is keeping Carter in the picture at the moment, but if he doesn’t have a good month, it'll be tough to justify a roster spot for him.
Chances of making the roster: 55%
Previous player breakdowns
Related: Bengals Roster Breakdown: Jay Tufele finds himself on the roster bubble in a contract year
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