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 finally arrived at the Bengals' 2024 NFL Draft class with center Matt Lee. As the last of 10 picks from the Bengals' draft, Lee has better odds than most seventh-round selections usually have to make the 53-man roster as a rookie. Is his spot guaranteed? No, but his resume from college and the situation he's entering now puts him in a great position to succeed.
Matt Lee
- Age: 23
- Year: 1st
- Position: Center
- College: Miami
- Previous Teams: None
- Jersey Number: 62
Lee was drafted by the Bengals with the 237th overall pick in the seventh round of the 2024 NFL Draft. He spent his fifth and final season of college at Miami after playing the previous four years at UCF. He played four games during his true freshman season in 2019 before he was redshirted. Once that year was behind him, he started 48 of the his next 49 possible games.
Lee earned All-AAC honors in his first year as a starter in 2020, but his game was only getting better. He cut his penalties down from 13(!) to just one in 2021, and cut his pressures allowed in half from 15 to 7. 2022 was his best year at his original school as he allowed just four pressures and no sacks while earning a 90.3 pass blocking grade from Pro Football Focus.
With one more season of eligibility, Lee transferred from Central Florida to South Florida to play for the Hurricanes and picked up right where he left off. He remained one of the cleanest pass-protectors in college football with just four pressures allowed and finished with a pass blocking grade of 89.1. He earned Second Team All-ACC honors.
In a deep center class, Lee was still considered a mid-round prospect after a positive NFL Scouting Combine showing. He ended up falling much further in the draft, likely due to his lack of size and positional versatility. Cincinnati graded him as a fifth-round player, but ended up drafting him all the way in the seventh.
Contract details
Lee signed a four-year, $4,121,752 deal with the Bengals in May that will pay him the minimum salary for the 2024 season.
His salary will cost $795,000 for the entire season if he's kept on the team for the entire regular season, but with a $101,752 signing bonus prorated throughout the deal, his cap hit as of now is $820,438 for the year.
Roster chances
Should Lee stay healthy throughout training camp, he should find a spot on the 53-man roster. The Bengals needed a backup center after letting Max Scharping walk in free agency, and drafted Lee for that exact reason. The only reason why he's not a total lock is due to when he was drafted, and who remains on the roster with him.
Former sixth-round pick Trey Hill is entering the last year of his contract and has been developing at both center and guard for the past three years. He's been less than stellar whenever given the chance to play meaningful snaps, but he's still in the building hoping to earn back a role. Scharping asserted himself as the backup swing interior lineman in 2023 while Hill was a healthy inactive decision most weeks. This figures to be the last training camp Hill gets to prove himself.
Lee vs. Hill might become a close battle in August, but considering Lee has four years on his contract and, frankly, is a better player coming out of college than Hill was, Lee should have the upper hand. He's a valuable piece to have developing behind Ted Karras for the next two years. They shouldn't risk losing him on waivers to keep Hill.
Chances of making the roster: 70%
Previous player breakdowns
Related: Bengals Roster Breakdown: Devonnsha Maxwell's return could provide a spark at defensive tackle
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