Bengals first-round pick becomes last rookie to sign deal

The entire 2024 NFL Draft class is now signed, thanks to the Bengals' efforts just days before the start of training camp.

On Monday, the team announced it has signed offensive tackle Amarius Mims, the No. 18 overall pick.

After the Minnesota Vikings signed their two first-round picks, quarterback J.J. McCarthy and linebacker Dallas Turner, over the last few days, Mims remained the last player in this year's draft class without a deal.

That is no longer the case after Cincinnati agreed to give him a four-year, fully guaranteed contract worth $15.37 million that includes a $7.99 million signing bonus and a fifth-year team option, per ESPN's Adam Schefter .

The massive 6-foot-8, 340-pound offensive tackle played in 29 games with eight starts during his three seasons (2021-2023) at Georgia. He helped the Bulldogs win back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022 and ranked seventh nationally in fewest sacks allowed per game (0.93) in 2023.

While Mims was deserving of a first-round selection in April, he is still viewed as a raw athlete with such a small sample size. During his time at Georgia, he played only 802 total snaps.

Luckily for him and the Bengals, he won't need to be a starter right out of the gate with fellow veteran offensive tackles Orlando Brown Jr. and Trent Brown on the roster.

"The potential that this guy's got, we were excited that he was there at 18. We think we're a great fit for him with acquiring Trent and Orlando, two veterans that can help with his processing," head coach Zac Taylor said . "We were just really excited that he was there at 18 and we get to have him in the mix."

Still, Cincinnati is hoping its investment in the 21-year-old pays off. QB Joe Burrow is coming off the second season-ending injury (wrist) of his young NFL career and Cincinnati has made it a focus to prevent that from happening again.

Mims could play a large role in keeping Burrow upright for a long time, but he won't have the pressure to do so this season likely serving in a backup role to start his professional career.