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 stay in the trenches for Sheldon Rankins. The Bengals have wanted Rankins on their team for years and had to endure him on the field in the meantime. It's no surprise he became Cincinnati's biggest acquisition when he became available again. He's here to do exactly what he's excelled at against the Bengals when facing them in the past: Give the quarterback hell.
Sheldon Rankins
- Age: 30
- Year: 9th
- Position: Defensive tackle
- College: Louisville
- Previous Teams: New Orleans Saints, New York Jets, Houston Texans
- Jersey Number: 98
Rankins was drafted by the Saints with the 12th overall pick in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He spent four years at Louisville and played in all four seasons. He emerged as a full-time starter as a junior in 2014 and posted career-highs in tackles for loss (14.5) and sacks (9) and also hauled in two interceptions on his way to Third Team All-ACC honors. He racked up 13 more tackles for loss and six more sacks as a senior in 2015 and also returned a fumble 46 yards for his first and only touchdown.
Rankins' NFL career got off to a rough start with a torn fibula taking him out of the first half of his rookie season in 2016, but he racked up four sacks in the Saints' final nine games of the year. He played full seasons in 2017 and 2018 and posted a career-high eight sacks in the latter year, but a torn achilles suffered in the playoffs took him out of the first three games of the 2019 season, and an ankle injury sidelined him for the final three games. A knee injury also disrupted the middle of 2020 season, his last in New Orleans.
Despite injuries plaguing his final two years with his original team, the Bengals were in on signing Rankins in the 2021 offseason. They lost out to the New York Jets, who inked the pass-rusher to a two-year, $11 million deal. Rankins only missed two games in his two-year stint with the Jets, but only managed to record six sacks total. One of them was at Joe Burrow's expense during the 2021 season in a game which the Bengals lost.
Rankins would beat the Bengals two years later during his lone season with the Texans thanks to the best game of his career. He sacked Burrow a single-game best three times in Paycor Stadium in what ended up being a key victory for Houston to win the AFC South. When he became a free agent once more, the Bengals finally sealed the deal and got him on their side.
Contract details
Rankins signed a two-year, $24.5 million contract with the Bengals this offseason. He will earn a base salary of $5.45 million for the 2024 season. He's already earned an $8 million roster bonus, $4 million from his signing bonus, and another $50,000 from a workout bonus. He can also earn up to $500,000 in per game roster bonuses. His cap number for this season is $11,941,176 since $58,823 of his per game roster bonuses is considering not likely to be earned.
Roster outlook
Improving the pass rush has been a focal point since the Bengals' 2021 Super Bowl run when Larry Ogunjobi provided a boost from inside. Cincinnati hadn't adequately replaced over the past two years, which led them to finally landing Rankins in free agency. Rankins is definitely in the back-half of his career, but showed plenty left in the tank for the AFC South champions last year, especially on the Bengals' home field.
With Rankins starting at 3-technique, the Bengals' defensive line should be able to generate more interior pressure to complement Trey Hendrickson and Co. from off the edge. Hendrickson's hurries that haven't resulted in negative plays should now be cleaned up more often thanks to Rankins' ability to push the pocket and penetrate from within.
And with B.J. Hill and rookie Kris Jenkins Jr. alongside him, Rankins will have fresh legs throughout the season to do what he does best.
Projected role: Starting 3-technique defensive tackle
Previous player breakdowns
Related: Bengals Roster Breakdown: B.J. Hill continues to be the gift that keeps on giving for Cincinnati
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