The Cincinnati Bengals are shaking up their defense, releasing long-time starting LB Germaine Pratt, NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero reported on Monday.
The #Bengals are releasing veteran LB Germaine Pratt today, per sources.
Pratt ranked in the top 10 in the NFL last season in tackles and was a team captain. Now, he hits the open market. pic.twitter.com/6OabVd3Dv8
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) June 9, 2025
Pratt was Cincinnati’s third-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft and has spent the first six years of his career with the team. According to Pelissero, releasing him will save the team $5.6 million in cash and cap space in 2025.
He’s coming off a season where he registered a career-high 143 total tackles, including 80 solo tackles. For his career, he has 616 tackles, 23 passes defensed and 3.5 sacks. He’s been a full-time starter for the Bengals for the last five seasons, and he started over half his games during his rookie season in 2019.
He requested a trade out of Cincinnati in February, but with no trade partner found, the Bengals chose to release Pratt rather than keep him for 2025.
With Germaine Pratt released, the Bengals will rely on rookies Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter to replace him. The team drafted Knight in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft and later selected Carter in the fourth round.
In his scouting report for Steelers Depot, Jonathan Heitritter compared Knight to Pratt.
Pratt has some history with the Steelers, downplaying their success against Cincinnati in a 44-38 Week 13 win last season after guaranteeing a Bengals victory. Back in 2022, he also claimed the Steelers were just running “the same plays over and over” under former offensive coordinator Matt Canada and said the Bengals knew what plays the Steelers would run.
There should be a market for Pratt given the fact that he’s been relatively healthy throughout his career and has shown he can be productive. Pittsburgh likely won’t be a team that shows interest however, given that the team already has a jam-packed depth chart at off-ball linebacker and Pratt wouldn’t be an immediate upgrade over Patrick Queen, Payton Wilson or Cole Holcomb.
Cincinnati’s defense as a whole really struggled in 2024, and for the team to get back into postseason contention, it’s a unit that has to improve. Releasing Pratt will allow some new blood to potentially help change the culture and improve Cincinnati’s defense, but it’ll be risky relying on two rookies to carry most of the load with Pratt no longer on the team.
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