The NFL offseason has officially kicked off after the Philadelphia Eagles won Super Bowl 59. The Cincinnati Bengals are coming off a disappointing 9-8 season that saw the team miss out on the playoffs for the second straight season. Changes were made in-house and players’ futures are up in the air. Popular defensive caption Germaine Pratt has been a focal point of the defense for six years. However, he is widely considered a cap casualty heading into 2025.
The man they call “Playoff P” for stepping up in big moments has decided to take matters into his own hands and has requested a trade from the organization.
Veteran Bengals Defensive Captain Germaine Pratt Requests Trade
The Bengals selected Pratt in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft and he was a regular contributor right away. As a rookie, Pratt appeared in all 16 games and started nine. In total, he logged 76 tackles and four tackles for loss.
In 2020, he took over the starting role full-time. Across 16 games, Pratt amassed 89 tackles, five tackles for loss, and broke up two passes. Then, in 2021, he started a run of top-tier linebacker play. During the regular season, he totaled 91 tackls, five tackles for loss, a pair of quarterback hits, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, two pass breakups, and an interception. He showed up for the Bengals in that Super Bowl run as well. In the Wild Card win over the Las Vegas Raiders, Pratt came down with the game-sealing fourth-down interception to secure the franchise’s first playoff win in 31 years.
The following year, it was more of the same. In 15 regular-season games, Pratt managed 99 total tackles, six tackles for loss, one quarterback hit, 10 pass breakups, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and two interceptions. He added 20 tackles and three pass breakups in the Bengals’ run back to the AFC Championship.
In 2023, Pratt finally broke the 100-tackle threshold with 118. He set a new career high with six tackles for loss with three quarterback hits, two sacks, two forced fumbles, three pass breakups, and two interceptions.
Finally, last year, Pratt had the best season of his career with 143 tackles, five tackles for loss, four quarterback hits, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, six pass breakups, and two interceptions.
Prior to the 2023 season, Pratt signed a three-year, $20.5 million contract. With one year left in that deal, he’s looking for a change of scenery and will be paid $5.25 million in 2025. If the Bengals can pull off a trade, they’ll save $5.85 million against the cap.
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