Bengals 2025 Roster Breakdown: Ted Karras entering swan song of a season as Cincinnati's elder statesman

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.

64 days remain until the Bengals' first game of the 2025 season, but No. 64 Ted Karras is always worthy of praising.

Ted Karras

Age: 32
Year: 10th
Position: Center
College: Illinois
Previous Teams: New England Patriots (2016-19, 2021), Miami Dolphins (2020)
Jersey Number: 64

Karras enters his 10th season in the NFL and fourth with the Bengals after being drafted 221st overall in the sixth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He spent five years at Illinois, starting four of them at right guard. He's also the great nephew of Pro Football Hall of Famer Alex Karras and four other relatives in his family played in college or the NFL. 

New England won two Super Bowls in Karras' first three years, but he wasn't a full-time starter until 2019 when he took over the center position. He did the same for Miami in 2020 before going back to the Patriots for a season at left guard. Cincinnati signed him to play center in 2022 and hasn't looked back since. He's started every game since and has only been off the field during two blowout wins.

Karras' off field legacy has only grown as well with The Cincy Hat, his own charity hat brand that began benefitting the Village of Merici back in his hometown of Indianapolis and is now helping out students and adults dealing with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in Cincinnati. His work was further highlighted as the Bengals' 2023 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award nominee and winner of the Charity Challenge fan vote. 

Contract Details

Karras is set to play on the one-year, $6 million extension he signed last year. He will earn a base salary of $4.2 million for the 2025 season and already earned a workout bonus of $100,000. He can also earn up to $500,000 in per game roster bonuses. His total cash earnings for the year amounts to $4.8 million. 

When adding on his signing bonus proration of $1.5 million, Karras' salary cap hit for this season will be $6.3 million.

Roster Outlook

The extension with the least amount of drama in recent Bengals memory belongs to Karras, who's been nothing short of a model citizen and player since joining the club three years ago. He's as solid of a center as you'll find in the league, and even as the oldest player in the locker room, that remains the expectation for this year. 

Karras will play out what will likely be his last year in Cincinnati. Backups Matt Lee and Seth McLaughlin will be waiting in the wings to take over in 2026. The Bengals are notoriously hesitant to pay players over 30, so even if Karras is just beginning his Jason Kelce arc and takes another step with age, the team will probably bet on this being his last good year as a full-time starter. Four years is already one more than they originally signed up for. Expect him to be named a fourth-time team captain for his final ride.

Projected role: Starting center

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