The Cincinnati Bengals announced Monday, Aug. 24, they have released offensive lineman Cody Ford.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor said the decision came out of respect for Ford, to give him a chance to get a head start on finding a new team.
Ford, an eighth-year player, signed with the Bengals as an unrestricted free agent in the 2023 offseason. He played in 50 regular-season games with 10 starts for Cincinnati, filling multiple roles, and came into camp as the expected swing tackle.
“He’s given us a lot over the last three and a half years,” Taylor said. “I really appreciate that from Cody. And so, just giving him a head start really on the whole process, I thought, was the right thing to do. I always think back to Cody, he served a lot of roles for us. A lot of times, not a lot of prep work. I mean, there were times we’d practice him as a guard and then the next week started him at tackle in games, having to block some big-time rushers in this league. And just always appreciative of the role Cody played for us, the attitude he had. …
“It was just whatever I got to do to help the team. … Gave us three good years of football and now I wish him the best on the next part of his journey.”
Teams have until 6 p.m. Sunday to narrow their rosters down to 53 players.
Ford appeared to have lost some weight in the offseason and came into training camp in good shape, but it didn’t translate into better production on the field. Ford, playing left guard, allowed a sack and had a false start in Saturday’s second preseason game.
Second-year player Jalen Rivers, a fifth-round draft pick last year out of Miami, and Jaguars’ 2024 fourth-round pick Javon Foster, who was on Cincinnati’s practice squad last year, have been getting the backup tackle reps in practices and games.
Taylor side-stepped a question about what Rivers and Foster have shown that Ford has not.
“This whole thing’s not concluded yet,” Taylor said. “It’s more just I want to give Cody a little bit of a head start on this whole process.”
The Bengals are exploring whether to bring in outside help but also still evaluating whether the Week 1 swing tackle is already on the roster. It’s a concerning position to be in during the last week of training camp with no clear backup if something were to happen to Amarius Mims or Orlando Brown Jr.
“I think we’re always open to everything,” Taylor said. “These guys are really competing. I feel like I’d like to see someone grab it and us be able to say that. But certainly with time still to practice, we got some stuff to sort out.”
The Bengals last year brought in veteran offensive lineman Dalton Risner after final cuts, and he ended up playing Week 1 and eventually taking over the right guard job full-time. He was the top-graded offensive lineman for the Bengals in 2025, according to PFF.com, and re-signed this offseason.
That experiment should give Cincinnati some comfort they could do that again with the swing tackle spot, but Taylor said the “easiest focus” is on getting the in-house guys up to the task. There is still belief Rivers, Foster or someone else could grab that role.
“Still feel like we have several practices left to get all that ironed out, and a lot of times this thing goes into the season, sometimes where you decide who fits you best and what are the combinations that you’d like to utilize in certain situations,” Taylor said. “So, I think we got really good guys that are depth pieces on the roster right now that I’m still really encouraged by.”
Rivers played 16 games last year, including seven starts at guard, and was a left guard to begin his college career before finishing as the Hurricanes’ starting left tackle his last two seasons.
Foster made four appearances for Jacksonville in 2024 but all of his snaps were on special teams.
Taylor said there aren’t many backup jobs that feel like locks right now. He’s just looking for consistency. The evaluation could go into next week, even after final cuts are made.
“You take in the whole picture,” Taylor said. “What’s their understanding of what we’re trying to accomplish on offense, the scheme, how coachable are they? When they get one-on-one pass-block situations, how do they handle it? How do they understand where their help is when we’re trying to help them? What kind of movement, power do they get in the run game? You really factor in all the critical mistakes. What are their critical mistakes? Can it get us beat? Can we live with that? So, I think there’s a lot of.”
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