The Bengals now have a kicker heading into the offseason.
On Friday, the team announced the signing of kicker Jonathan Brown to a Reserve/Future contract. Brown will not count on the team’s Active List until February 6, the Monday after the Super Bowl.
A first-year NFL player for 2017, Brown originally joined the Bengals in May of 2016 as a college free agent. He suffered an injury in spring workouts, reverted to the team’s Reserve/Injured list after being waived-injured, and was released from there on Aug. 30 after completing rehab.
Brown is still a bit of a mystery at the kicker position after primarily playing soccer at Louisville, though he would later became a backup kicker who didn’t see much action behind starter John Wallace.
Per the school's website, Brown had one kickoff for 65 yards but never attempted a field goal. As of now, he’s the only kicker signed to any kind of deal for 2017 by the Bengals with Randy Bullock hitting free agency in March.
Expect the Bengals to sign and/or draft another kicker in the coming months. At the very least, they’ll want some competition at the position with no clear-cut guy in the fold after enduring a season of Mike Nugent’s woes.
Be sure to read Connor’s great writeup on Brown’s journey from soccer to the NFL.