Colts signing former Bengals fullback Ryan Hewitt

The Cincinnati Bengals released h-back Ryan Hewitt on Saturday and on Monday, he signed with the Bengals’ Week 1 opponent, the Indianapolis Colts.

It’s safe to say Hewitt will be sharing his knowledge of the Bengals’ playbook with his new teammates in Indianapolis.

Hewitt had been with the Bengals for the last four seasons working as a fullback, h-back and even tight end at times. However, his role diminished over the last two seasons, so much that he rarely saw the field in 2017. He played 11.02 percent of offensive snaps last season.

The Bengals moved forward with Tyler Eifert, Tyler Kroft, C.J. Uzomah and Mason Schreck at tight end. Schreck seemingly stole away Hewitt’s spot on the 53-man roster but the Bengals have no traditional fullback in the fold.

Hewitt originally joined the Bengals as an undrafted free agent out of Stanford in 2014. He played a lot in his first two seasons, so much that the Bengals rewarded him with a three-year, $7.5 million contract extension in 2016. Since then, the Bengals have steadily decreased his role, marking one of their weirdest contract extensions in Bengals history. The Bengals are following an NFL trend of minimizing the usage of fullbacks on offense, so much so that the Bengals now don’t have one on the roster at all.

By releasing Hewitt, the Bengals saved $1,981,250, according to Over The Cap. The Bengals will owe him $375,000 in dead cap money this year.

Hewitt had 22 catches for 220 yards in his time with the Bengals. After being released by the team, he commented on his time in Cincinnati very graciously.

“Incredibly grateful for my time in Cincinnati!! Bummed it ends like this and I wish I could have had more of an impact on the field the last couple years. Good luck to the boys this year and excited to see what’s next,” Hewitt Tweeted.

We’ll see Hewitt in Indianapolis on Sunday!