Bryson Albright signs futures contract with Bengals

The Bengals have signed linebacker Bryson Albright to a futures/reserve contract, the team announced Tuesday.

Albright will not officially count against the offseason 90-man roster until the day after the Super Bowl, in two weeks. He joins defensive end Ryan Brown, defensive tackle David Dean, cornerback Tony McRae, offensive guard Alex Redmond, and wide receiver Alonzo Russell as players who’ve signed futures deals with Cincinnati. All of the players who ended the season on the Bengals’ practice squad as well as the players who were promoted to the roster within the last three weeks of the season are under contract for 2017.

A 2016 undrafted free agent from Miami (Ohio) University, Albright earned his way onto the Bills’ initial 53-man roster with impressive performances in the preseason, but didn’t dress in the team’s season opener against the Ravens before eventually being waived and signed to the practice squad. Albright also attended Cincinnati’s St. Xavier High School. He will be classified as a first year player in 2017.

In the preseason with the Bills, Albright had five tackles, three quarterback hits and a fumble recovery. He played in all four preseason games in 2016.

In his four-year college career, Albright played in 48 games and made 35 starts for the RedHawks. As a junior in 2014, he started all 12 games and racked up 55 tackles, six sacks and eight tackles for loss. In 2015, Albright appeared in all 12 games (11 starts) and recorded 51 tackles, seven sacks, 12.5 tackles for loss and one interception. He finished his college career with 190 tackles, 19 sacks and 33.5 tackles for loss.

Albright was actually a defensive lineman in college before moving to more of an outside linebacker and pass-rushing role with the Bills. That’s probably what his role with the Bengals will be, which is good news for a team that needs more pass-rushing threats.