Former Utah Utes star RB released by NFL team

Former Utah Utes star Zack Moss was released by the Cincinnati Bengals on Wednesday, the team announced.

The move came about a week after the Bengals placed the 27-year-old running back on the non-football injury list.

Moss signed with Cincinnati as a free agent during the 2024 offseason, though he suffered a neck injury in November and missed the second half of the regular season while on injured reserve. Moss and Cincinnati agreed to a restructured deal worth $1.7 million in April, saving the Bengals roughly $1.7 million in cap space in the process.

In eight games last season, Moss rushed for 242 yards and two touchdowns. He last saw the field on Oct. 27 before learning that he broke his neck in three different places (on his C6 vertebrae) in November, resulting in a two-month-long rehab in a neck brace for the veteran tailback.

Moss arrived in Cincinnati following a breakout 2023 campaign with the Indianapolis Colts, in which he logged 183 carries for 794 rushing yards and five touchdowns, appearing in 14 games and making eight starts. He also hauled in 27 catches for 192 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

Moss, selected No. 86 overall in the 2020 NFL Draft, was a standout for the Utes over the course of his four-year stay in Salt Lake City. The 5-foot-10 Florida native earned Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year honors and a spot on the Associated Press All-America Third Team as a senior in 2019 with 1,416 rushing yards, 15 touchdowns and the second-most all-purpose yards per game (138.8) in the Pac-12.