Bengals 2025 Roster Breakdown: Amarius Mims is Cincinnati's next best chance at an elite player

Bengals roster breakdown is back! During the 99 days leading up to Cincinnati's regular season opener against the Cleveland Browns, the player with the matching jersey number as days remaining will become the day's highlighted player.

71 days remain until the Bengals' first game of the 2025 season, so we're staying in the range of offensive linemen with No. 71 Amarius Mims.

Amarius Mims

Age: 22
Year: 2nd
Position: Offensive tackle
College: Georgia
Previous Teams: None
Jersey Number: 71

Mims enters his second season with the Bengals after being drafted 18th overall in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. He played three years at Georgia from 2021-23, coming off the bench at right tackle during most of his first two years with the program. His first two starts were in the 2022-23 College Football Playoff in which Georgia won the title. He began the 2023 season starting at RT, but an ankle injury in Week 3 took him out for six games. He would play four games until re-injuring the ankle. He later sustained a hamstring injury at the NFL Scouting Combine.

One unfortunate ankle injury derailed Mims' only season as a starter before moving on to the NFL. His talent and size at 6-8, 340 pounds was evident, but four other tackles were drafted in front of him due to concerns with his durability and lack of playing experience. Cincinnati valued his time practicing against elite athletes at Georgia and his upside to round into a complete player. He made his debut during Week 3 after starting RT Trent Brown suffered a season-ending knee injury and started the next 13 games. He came off the bench in Week 18 as he wasn't supposed to play with a broken, but was called to action after Cody Ford suffered an injury of his own. 

Contract Details

Mims is in the second year of his four-year, $15,371,558 million rookie contract he signed in 2024. He will earn a guaranteed base salary of $960,000 this season along with a roster bonus of $533,707 that's also guaranteed. He will collect a total of $1,493,707 in cash this season. 

When adding on his signing bonus proration of $1,999,829, Mims' salary cap hit for the season is $3,493,536.

Roster Outlook

It's common for last year's first-round pick to be considered a breakout candidate in his second season, and Mims is no exception. His fluid movement skills combined with uncommon size and strength flashed often as a rookie, and despite not seeing the field until Week 3 and watching most of the season finale from the sidelines as well, he still logged more snaps as a rookie (835) than he did his entire college career (803).

If there's another player on the Bengals' roster capable of joining Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, and Trey Hendrickson as the elites at their respective positions, it's Mims. Staying mostly healthy as a rookie was a significant first step for him. Year two will be about building off that foundation and turning it into a complete and dominant season. And he's still only 22. 

The sky's truly the limit for him. He doesn't have to reach high to touch it anyways.

Projected role: Starting right tackle

Previous Player Profiles

• No. 99: Myles Murphy
• No. 98: T.J. Slaton Jr.
• No. 97: Shemar Stewart
• No. 96: Cam Sample
• No. 95: Howard Cross III
• No. 94: Eric Gregory
• No. 93: McKinnley Jackson
• No. 92: B.J. Hill
• No. 91: Trey Hendrickson
• No. 90: Kris Jenkins Jr.
• No. 89: Drew Sample
• No. 88: Mike Gesicki
• No. 87: Tanner Hudson
• No. 86: Kole Taylor
• No. 85: Cam Grandy
• No. 84: Tanner McLachlan
• No. 83: Erick All Jr.
• No. 82: Mitchell Tinsley
• No. 81: Jermaine Burton
• No. 80: Andrei Iosivas
• No. 79: Andrew Coker
• No. 77: Caleb Etienne
• No. 76: Devin Cochran
• No. 75: Orlando Brown Jr.
• No. 74: Jalen Rivers
• No. 73: Andrew Stueber