Bengals 2025 Roster Breakdown: Oren Burks bringing big game experience to third defense in as many years

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.

42 days (six weeks!) remain until the Bengals' first game of the 2025 season, and No. 42 Oren Burks knows all about how win the last game of the year.

Oren Burks

Age: 30
Year: 8th
Position: Linebacker
College: Vanderbilt
Previous Teams: Green Bay Packers (2018-21), San Francisco 49ers (2022-23), Philadelphia Eagles (2024)
Jersey Number: 42

Burks enters his eighth season in the NFL and first with the Bengals after being drafted 88th overall in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft. He spent five years at Vanderbilt, playing in four of them and appearing in 45 games.

Burks began his NFL career playing key special teams roles for Green Bay while occasionally seeing the field on defense. San Francisco signed him to his first free agent contract in 2022 and utilized him in a very similar way that season before needing him to play a career-high 433 defensive snaps in 2023. Philadelphia was next in 2024 and turned to him to start five of the Eagles' last six games including their Super Bowl LIX victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. 

Contract Details

Burks is in the first year of his two-year, $5 million contract he signed in March. He earned a roster bonus of $750,000 and will earn a base salary of $1.34 million for the 2025 season. He has earn a $100,000 workout bonus and can earn up to $510,000 in per game roster bonuses. His potential cash earnings for this year is $2.7 million million.

When adding on his roster bonus proration of $375,000, Burks' salary cap hit for the season will be $2.325 million.

Roster Outlook

Burks spent years biding his time on special teams before emerging on two different defenses in the last two years and playing meaningful playoff football for both of them. It's that experience which enticed the Bengals in free agency, and while snaps are needed on punts and kickoffs with Akeem Davis-Gaither gone, Burks appears to have a role within Cincy's defense in training camp. Defensive coordinator Al Golden and linebackers coach Mike Hodges have rotated the 30-year old into certain personnel groupings with the starting unit alongside fourth-round pick Barrett Carter. 

When everyone at the position is healthy, expect Burks to play around 10-15 defensive snaps a game and to be involved heavily on special teams. He was signed as a Davis-Gaither replacement, and that's exactly what he's preparing to do. 

Projected role: Rotational linebacker

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
• No. 71: Amarius Mims
• No. 69: Dante Barnett
• No. 68: Seth McLaughlin
• No. 67: Cordell Volson
• No. 66: Tashawn Manning
• No. 65: Matt Lee
• No. 64: Ted Karras
• No. 63: Dylan Fairchild
• No. 62: Lucas Patrick
• No. 61: Cody Ford
• No. 60: Jaxson Kirkland
• No. 59: Craig Young
• No. 58: Joseph Ossai
• No. 56: Raymond Johnson III
• No. 55: Logan Wilson
• No. 53: Joe Giles-Harris
• No. 52: Cedric Johnson
• No. 51: Isaiah Thomas
• No. 50: Shaka Heyward
• No. 49: Barrett Carter
• No. 48: Cal Adomitis
• No. 47: Shaquan Loyal
• No. 46: William Wagner
• No. 45: Maema Njongmeta
• No. 44: Demetrius Knight Jr.
• No. 43: Jaylen Key