Geno Atkins and the Bengals are set to part ways

On Wednesday, we learned that Geno Atkins would be placed on injured reserve with a shoulder injury that has been bothering him all season.

Then we heard it’s possible that Atkins may never play for the Bengals again, per the Enquirer’s Tyler Dragon.

After watching Carlos Dunlap force his way out of Cincinnati, A.J. Green apparently say he wanted to be traded on the sideline, and John Ross ask for a trade on Twitter, it seems the Bengals’ coaching staff is rubbing a lot of players the wrong way.

Earlier in the year, it was reported that Atkins was frustrated with the direction of the defense. For some reason or another, he continued to play through injury this year and, as a result, had almost zero impact on the field, notching just one tackle.

Injury aside, Atkins has not been the same player under Zac Taylor. He had a poor 2019 as well. It seems he simply doesn’t fit into what the team is trying to do or perhaps he does not want to. At any rate, some fortunate team will get an eight-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro with two years left on his contract for a mid-rounder or less. He’s set to have a cap hit of $14.8 million in 2021 and $16.05 million in 2022.

If released this coming offseason, the Bengals will save $12.2 million but be on the hook for $2.6 million in dead cap.