Bengals 2025 Roster Breakdown: Craig Young's late season arrival sets him up for a full offseason in Cincinnati

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By John Sheeran | Last updated Jul 10, 2025 9:50 AM ET

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.

59 days remain until the Bengals' first game of the 2025 season, so No. 59 Craig Young will kick off the linebacker portion of the series.

Craig Young

Age: 24
Year: 2nd
Position: Linebacker
College: Kansas
Previous Teams: Indianapolis Colts (2024), Pittsburgh Steelers (2024)
Jersey Number: 59

Young enters his second season in the NFL after going undrafted during the 2024 NFL Draft. He played two years at Kansas after spending his first three years of college at Ohio State, transferring after seeing fewer than 200 snaps with the Buckeyes. He started two years for the Jayhawks in a variety of alignments in the box and, mostly, in the slot.

The Colts signed Young as an undrafted free agent in 2024 and waived him during final cuts. He cleared waivers but went unsigned until the Steelers signed him to their practice squad leading up to Week 7 of the regular season. Pittsburgh released him following Week 9, and the Bengals signed him to their practice squad for the final two weeks of the season. He was brought back for this offseason on a reserve/future contract.

Contract Details

Young signed a one-year, $840,000 futures contract in January. His entire contract is a non-guaranteed base salary of $$840,000, so his potential cash earnings and salary cap hit for the season is that amount.

Roster Outlook

Young joined Cincinnati's practice squad about as late as he could've last year and never got a chance to play in an actual game, but he's back for an entire offseason to make a run at a roster spot. He's got completely new coaches to impress as well.

The Bengals are eight-deep at LB right now and they may only carry a maximum of six during the regular season. Young's chances of cracking that top six are slim, and squeezing into the top five if that's the final number is even less likely.

Young just needs to stay healthy and impress on special teams next month for a chance at staying on the practice squad, or a fourth club in two years is his fate.

Roster odds: 5%
Projected role: Reserve linebacker