The Cincinnati Bengals will move on from longtime standout defensive tackle Geno Atkins. Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports

Bengals to release eight-time Pro Bowler Geno Atkins

Originally posted on Sportsnaut | By Vincent Frank | Last updated 12/16/20

A season that started out with the team being competitive, Cincinnati Bengals news has included rookie quarterback Joe Burrow being lost to a torn ACL and longtime defensive end Carlos Dunlap forcing a trade.

To say things are not going swimmingly for the 2-10-1 Bengals would be an understatement. Second-year head coach Zac Taylor is in a questionable position after starting his career 4-24-1 record. We now have more Bengals news with the 2020 season coming to a conclusion. It’s not great.

“The Bengals and Geno Atkins will have a conversation after the season, but the belief is the two parties are going to part ways, per a source,” Tyler Dragon of the Cincinnati Inquirer reported on Wednesday.

This can’t be seen as a surprise. Dealing with a shoulder injury, the 32-year-old Atkins was placed on injured reserve. A member of the Bengals since all the way back in 2010, this eight-time Pro Bowler has recorded merely a single tackle thus far this season. He apparently isn’t a fit in defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo’s system.

Even then, we’re talking about one of the greatest players in franchise history set to move on from the rebuilding Bengals. It’s definitely a bitter pill for fans in Cincinnati to swallow.

A product of Georgia, Atkins has morphed into a borderline Hall of Fame performer after being selected in the fourth-round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He’s recorded nine sacks or more five times and is third on the Bengals’ all-time sack list behind Eddie Edwards and the above-mentioned Dunlap.

Atkins will draw a lot of interest on the open market once he’s eventually released. Said move will also save the Bengals $9.6 million against the 2021 NFL salary cap.

This article first appeared on Sportsnaut and was syndicated with permission.

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