Former Cincinnati Bengals Veteran Signing With AFC North Rival

Former Bengals running back Trayveon Williams is returning to the AFC North.

Just days after he was released by the Patriots, Williams is signing with Cleveland according to NFL insider Aaron Wilson.

Williams was a key piece of Cincinnati's special teams unit over the past few seasons. He spent six years in Cincinnati (2019-24). Williams appeared in all 17 games in each of the past two years, playing 547 snaps on special teams over that span.

The Bengals completely revamped their running back room behind Chase Brown this offseason. They signed Samaje Perine in free agency and selected Tahj Brooks in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft.

Brooks has had a great training camp and Perine is as steady as they come. The veteran is a high-end pass blocker, solid runner and quality special teams contributor.

"I love having Samaje back in the fold. Really smart pro, tough, every superlative I could give to Samaje," Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said in June. "Coaches are gonna the dude because that's just how he's built. I think he meshes well with Chase. Tahj has been excellent. He's a rookie. He's gonna do some rookie stuff. But I'm really happy with him. I think he was a guy who in most years gets selected higher than where he got selected. It was a deep running back draft, so we're fortunate we got a chance to take him."

Brooks will get his first chance in a real game on Thursday night when the Bengals play the Eagles in the preseason opener. Don't be surprised if the rookie gets plenty of snaps.

Meanwhile, Brown emerged as one of the best young running backs in the league last year, compiling 990 rushing yards (4.3 yards-per-carry) and seven touchdowns. He also had 54 catches for 360 yards and four receiving touchdowns.

"Just continued growth. I'm not surprised by anything I see from Chase Brown," Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said in June. "He loves football, No. 1. His energy is contagious, and the details are important to him. Getting better every day is important to him. He's one of those guys you can really lean on just to be consistent every single day, and that's a key piece of our offense. And he's done a great job kind of just edging in there with a ton of great playmakers on offense and making himself a priority, like we got to get this guy the ball in as many ways as possible. And you say that with all the other weapons we already have, and so that's just a credit to him to find his niche and force us to have to give him the ball as many times as possible."

The Bengals play the Browns in their regular season opener on Sept. 7 in Cleveland. If Williams makes the 53-man roster, he'll face off against his former team.