Derron Smith leaves Bengals’ practice squad to join Browns; Scott Orndoff re-signed

The Cincinnati Bengals have once again had a practice squad change, though this one wasn’t quite of their own volition.

On Thursday, Derron Smith terminated his practice squad agreement with the Bengals so he could join the Cleveland Browns’ 53-man roster. The Browns had an extra roster spot after they waived safety Ibraheim Campbell due to injury.

Yes, you’re reading that correctly. Smith essentially cut the Bengals in order to join the worst team in football. You can’t really blame him since it’s the 53-man roster, but you’d like to think he was close to getting back on the Bengals’ roster once a free spot emerged.

With Smith out of the picture, the Bengals re-signed tight end Scott Orndoff to the practice squad.

A sixth-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft out of Fresno State, Smith played in three games this year with one special teams tackle this season. However, he was waived prior to a Week 9 game in Jacksonville in order to make room for free agent kicker Marshall Koehn, who replaced injured kicker Randy Bullock in that loss to the Jaguars. Bullock is still not healthy, so Koehn remains on the roster.

Smith has played in 31 regular-season Bengals games the past three seasons while making 13 total tackles. He was also a key member on kickoff and punt coverage. He appeared to have a bright future ahead of him after promising rookie and sophomore seasons, but injuries have kept him off the field far too much for the Bengals to rely on him.

That’s ultimately why the Bengals opted to cut him when they needed room for a second kicker. Smith is easily one of the best 53 players on this roster when healthy, but you can’t help if you’re inactive, something he’s been far too much over the last two years.

As for Orndoff, who rejoins the Bengals for a second time, he is a rookie by way of the Pitt Panthers. He originally signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers as a college free agent on May 1. The Steelers waived him on August 4, prior to their first preseason game.

Orndoff then signed with the Detroit Lions on August 21 and played in the Lions’ final two preseason games, recording one reception for four yards. The Lions waived him during final cuts on September 2.