Bengals cut Joe Burrow protector after appearing in 50 games since 2023

The Cincinnati Bengals are currently gearing up for their preseason finale on Friday evening on the road vs the Philadelphia Eagles. The Bengals are hoping to keep Joe Burrow healthy this year after injuries riddled his 2025 season and killed any realistic chance the team had of competing.

On Monday, the team made an interesting move regarding the offensive line.

“The #Bengals are releasing OL Cody Ford, who has played in 50 of 51 regular-season games with the team over three years in Cincinnati,” reported NFL insider Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network on X, formerly Twitter.

Indeed, Ford has been a stalwart of the Bengals offensive line for several years now. However, this year, he was expected to be the second string starting left tackle behind Orlando Brown Jr., per the team’s depth chart, so it makes it a little more understandable that the team would be willing to part ways with him.

Still, it will be jarring to see the offensive line without one of its cornerstones of the modern era on the field.

Brown Jr. and his teammates will look to keep Burrow upright as much as possible this year. 2025 wasn’t the only season that Burrow saw derailed by injuries, and while there’s no doubting the former top pick’s talents, those only come in handy when he’s on the field.

Meanwhile, the Bengals are also hoping that the moves they’ve made on defense over this offseason will be enough to at least become respectable again on that side of the ball after multiple years of ineptitude.

In any case, the Bengals will conclude their preseason slate on Friday against the Eagles at 8:00 pm ET in Philadelphia.

The post Bengals cut Joe Burrow protector after appearing in 50 games since 2023 appeared first on ClutchPoints.