What Re-Signing Tanner Hudson Means for Cincinnati Bengals’ Rotation at Tight End

CINCINNATI – Cincinnati Bengals tight end Tanner Hudson has broken the pattern.

Hudson was the third consecutive tight end to put up some of the best numbers of his career while catching passes from Joe Burrow, falling in line behind C.J. Uzomah and Hayden Hurst.

But Hudson didn’t follow them out the door. Instead, he agreed to a one-year contract to return to Cincinnati.

Cincinnati Bengals Re-Sign TE Tanner Hudson

The 6’5″ Hudson not only set career highs in receptions (39), receiving yards (352), and touchdowns (one), those numbers dwarfed the ones he compiled in his first four seasons in the league combined — 15 receptions, 199 yards, and no scores.

Tanner Hudson really wanted the rock 😂 pic.twitter.com/y6mhdo4U4y

— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) January 7, 2024

That spike in production came despite Hudson logging just one start and playing 36% of the offensive snaps. He spent most of the first half of the season on the practice squad.

Hudson may not see much of an improvement in playing time in 2024 after the Bengals signed Mike Gesicki and re-signed Drew Sample earlier in the week.

Gesicki and Hudson are similar in build and in the way they’ve been used, lining up in the slot 50% of the time and rarely playing attached to the offensive line.

But even after Cincinnati inked Gesicki to a one-year, $2.5 million deal, bringing back Hudson felt inevitable given the trust he built with Burrow and the lack of larger competing offers.

When the legal tampering period began on Monday, the Bengals did not have any tight ends under contract for the 2024 season. Four days later, they have three. And they likely aren’t done, although the next acquisition likely won’t come until the NFL Draft.

But don’t expect the team to use a premium pick on a tight end such as Brock Bowers. The more likely scenario has them taking a developmental TE in the middle rounds.

Cincinnati hasn’t drafted a tight end since taking Sample in the second round in 2019. Before that, you have to go back to 2015 for their previous Day 1 or 2 picks used on the position (Tyler Kroft, third round).

Hudson’s promotion from the practice squad last year came as a result of free agent signing Irv Smith Jr.’s lack of production, and his bump in playing time was after Smith lost a fumble near the goal line in Week 9 at San Francisco.

When the Bengals draft a tight end and how that player performs in training camp could have a bearing on whether Hudson starts the season on the practice squad again. Cincinnati has kept just three tight ends on their opening 53-man roster in every season of the Zac Taylor tenure except 2019.

Hudson is the seventh free agent from the 2023 team the Bengals have re-signed, along with linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither, quarterback Jake Browning, long snapper Cal Adomitis, offensive lineman Cody Ford, running back Trayveon Williams, and Sample.

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Seven more remain unsigned — offensive lineman Max Scharping, wide receiver Tyler Boyd, linebackers Joe Bachie and Markus Bailey, defensive tackle Josh Tupou, tight end Mitch Wilcox and wide receiver Trenton Irwin.

We have re-signed unrestricted free agent TE Tanner Hudson to a one-year contract extension

➡️ https://t.co/we0ArD40Jn pic.twitter.com/7j3zM7cExX

— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) March 15, 2024

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