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Bengals roster cuts 2015: Denarius Moore released; Nico Johnson among those waived

Nico Johnson was a bit of a surprise to be cut in the first round with how well he was playing in the preseason. Though, this could be an effort to give him more time to catch on elsewhere.

Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

The Cincinnati Bengal announced that they had *waived six players and released one Monday morning ahead of Tuesday's deadline to get down to 75 players. The one player released was veteran wide receiver Denarius Moore.

Moore, a former fifth-round pick from the 2011 NFL draft, spent four seasons in Oakland while accumulating 142 receptions, 2,169 yards receiving and 17 total touchdowns scored. During his first three seasons, he averaged 43 grabs for 685 yards receiving.

Moore's connection in Cincinnati is Hue Jackson, who was his head coach in 2011 when Moore was a rookie with Oakland. That helped lead the Bengals to signing him this offseason after he became a free agent. At the time, no other team showed any real interest in him.

Nico Johnson was among the six players waived. Johnson was having a productive preseason, but simply wasn't going to make the roster with so many other linebackers at the Bengals' disposal. Drafted with the 99th-overall pick of the 2013 NFL draft by Kansas City in 2013, Johnson is a third-year player who was on the Chiefs roster during his rookie season. He played in seven games with one start. He was waived during final cuts in 2014 and signed to the Chiefs' practice squad before the Bengals signed him to their 53-man roster on October 15, 2014.

The other five players waived were tight end John Peters, defensive lineman Kwame Geathers, wide receiver Desmond Lawrence, offensive lineman Chris Jasperse, and defensive end Sam Montgomery.

*The difference between being waived and released is that waived players have less than four years of NFL experience. If a player has more than four years of NFL experience the terminology is released. Cut can refer to both being released or waived.