Bengals Roster Breakdown: DT Domenique Davis needs another dominant preseason to breakthrough

Throughout the summer leading up to the regular season, we will go through the entire 2024 Cincinnati Bengals roster. Every single day until the season opener against the New England Patriots, we will break down a player on the roster including his background, contract status, and path towards making the team.

Today, defensive tackle Domenique Davis gets the spotlight. Davis has technically only accrued one season of NFL experience, but has been with the Bengals since the 2022 offseason and entered the NFL back in 2020. Now he's looking to make it three years in Cincinnati.

Domenique Davis

• Age: 28
• Year: 4th
• Position: Defensive tackle
• College: UNC Pembroke
• Previous Teams: New York Jets (2020), USFL's Houston Gamblers (2022)
• Jersey Number: 72

Davis first came to Cincinnati as a free agent during the 2022 offseason. He entered the NFL in 2020 as an undrafted free agent signing for the Jets, but never played a snap for them. He was out of football entirely during all of 2021 before resurfacing in the USFL in the spring of 2022. Cincinnati took a chance on him shortly afterwards.  

The last two years have gone fairly similar for Davis. He's been a bright spot in preseason action but has yet to make it through final cuts. The practice squad has been his home for the past two regular seasons, and he's been elevated a grand total of two times. He's logged 37 career snaps for the Bengals' defense in his short career.

Contract details

Davis signed a one-year futures deal with the Bengals back in January that will pay him the minimum salary for the 2024 season.

His salary will cost $795,000 for the entire season if he's kept on the team for the entire regular season, which is more than his career earnings of $127,500 prior to this year.

Roster chances

Davis' position became a focal point of the Bengals this offseason. Sheldon Rankins and rookies Kris Jenkins and McKinnley Jackson are all newcomers brought in to fortify the interior defensive line now that DJ Reader is gone to the Detroit Lions.

Those three along with veteran B.J. Hill are absolute locks to make the initial 53-man roster, and there's room for one more interior player at most. Davis' case for being that fifth is overshadowed by a couple other names like Zach Carter and Jay Tufele — players who've actually accrued in-game experience for the defense.

Should Davis overcome the odds and ascend over both Carter and Tufele, an undeniably strong training camp and preseason would need to have occurred. Racking up pressures and pass-rush wins was common for Davis last year, and he'll need to do even more to make it through cuts this time around. 

Chances of making the roster: 18%

Previous player breakdowns

• Kwamie Lassiter II