Lawrence Guy‘s effort to return to the NFL included workouts with two AFC North teams. After auditioning for the Ravens — one of his former squads — Guy participated in a Bengals showcase today. The latter effort will produce a deal.
The Bengals are signing Guy to their 53-man roster, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets. This will put Guy on a path toward a 13th NFL season, giving Cincinnati some experience as it attempts to crawl out of another 0-2 hole. Guy’s presence will undoubtedly be aimed at helping against the run, where the Bengals rank 26th.
Entering the NFL as a seventh-round Packers pick, Guy has now been in the league for 14 seasons. Though, he did not see any action as a rookie. Guy, 34, still went on to become a mainstay in Baltimore and New England. The Ravens met with their former D-line contributor a few weeks back but did not sign him. This opened the door for Guy to join a sixth NFL team.
This signing comes shortly after both Bengals starting D-tackles — B.J. Hill and Sheldon Rankins — sustained hamstring injuries against the Chiefs. Cincinnati also let high-end nose tackle D.J. Reader walk in free agency; Reader joined the Lions, making his debut with his new team in Week 2. The Bengals worked out both Guy and Albert Huggins today, per Pelissero, but will add the more experienced piece.
Guy lasted seven seasons in New England, starting for the team’s Super Bowl LII and LIII teams and remaining in place as a central Pats cog through Bill Belichick‘s final season. Although de facto GM Eliot Wolf valued many Belichick pieces considerably well this offseason via re-signings and extensions, Guy joined Adrian Phillips as mid-February cap casualties. The 315-pound D-lineman had signed two four-year deals with the Patriots, being a core Belichick player but one deemed expendable as Jerod Mayo took the reins.
The Pats gave Guy 102 starts from 2017-23. Not known as a pressure artist inside, Guy did accumulate 10.5 regular-season sacks as a Patriot and dropped Blake Bortles in New England’s comeback win over Jacksonville in the 2017 AFC championship game. Guy spent two-plus years in Baltimore prior to that 2017 New England signing, and he will return to the AFC North to help a Bengals team in need.
No IR moves involving Hill or Rankins have come to pass yet, but the Bengals did waive defensive end K.J. Henry from their active roster to clear a spot for Guy, ProFootballNetwork.com’s Jay Morrison tweets. Cincy had claimed Henry, a 2023 fifth-round pick, off waivers from Washington. Rather than go through with the increasingly common practice squad ramp-up route, the Bengals intend to put Guy to work immediately as they attempt their latest turnaround effort.