The Bengals are reuniting with a familiar face. Per Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network, Cincinnati has agreed to sign running back Samaje Perine, who spent part of the 2019 season and all of the 2020-22 campaigns with the team, to a two-year contract worth up to $3.8MM. The team is also making an addition to the defensive side of the ball, agreeing to sign linebacker Oren Burks to a two-year, $5MM deal (via Garafolo’s NFL Media colleague, Ian Rapoport).
Operating as a Joe Mixon understudy during his time in the Queen City, Perine proved to be a productive part of the Bengals’ offense, averaging roughly 4.4 yards per carry across the 2020-22 seasons. He eventually established himself as a trustworthy target in the passing game as well, catching 65 balls for 483 yards and five scores from 2021-22.
Perine, 29, spent the last two seasons in the AFC West. After a 2023 slate that saw the Broncos deploy him in a familiar complementary capacity (53 carries and a career-high 50 catches), the Chiefs did not give him as much action as a runner in 2024 (just 20 carries, his lowest total since 2019). He was efficient with those carries, though, averaging 4.6 yards per tote. He also caught 28 balls for 322 yards, and he should slip seamlessly back into an RB room that features Chase Brown and (for now, at least) Zack Moss.
Burks, who will turn 30 later this month, has also spent the entirety of his career as a reserve player, never starting more than five games in a season or seeing a snap share above 34%. Nonethless, Rapoport says the former Packers draftee will get the chance to start for Cincy.
Filling in for an injured Nakobe Dean during the Eagles’ Super Bowl run earlier this year, Burks tallied 25 tackles (three TFL), a sack, two QB hits, and one pass defensed across four postseason games. That showing was perhaps enough to convince the Bengals — who must be cost-conscious given the percentage of the salary cap they are devoting (or will soon devote) to Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins — to give Burks a shot at a starting gig.
This development perhaps signals that Germaine Pratt, who requested a trade last month, will be on the move.