Bengals dish out top signing bonus in LS Dan Godsil’s futures contract

The least exciting aspect of filling out a 90-man NFL roster is signing players to what are known as futures contracts. Any player who was not on a 53-man roster is technically eligible for a futures contract, but the contract itself does not become official until the new league year begins. For this reason, younger and less prominent players are the ones who usually sign them.

Following the conclusion of the 2020 regular season, the Bengals awarded futures contracts to 10 players from their final practice squad, one of them being long snapper Dan Godsil. Per NFL insider Field Yates, Godsil received one of the largest signing bonuses amongst all players to receive futures contracts.

Signing bonuses don’t always indicate something meaningful for futures contracts or college free agent deals, but this is interesting from at least one perspective.

Godsil re-joined the Bengals’ practice squad late last season when long snapper Clark Harris was in danger of missing a game due to illness. Godsil never had to play for Harris, but he does have familiarity with the team. The Bengals signed Godsil for the Summer of 2019 and had him play during the preseason of that year. After the 2019 season, Godsil re-joined the Bengals on a futures contract in January of 2020.

Unsurprisingly, Godsil once again did not last long with Cincinnati with Harris healthy and available, but Harris is set to become a free agent this offseason. It’s likely that the Bengals retain the 36-year old Harris, but Godsil represents some security at the long snapper position in case Harris does not return.

Regardless of Harris’ fate, Godsil will be a part of the Bengals’ initial 90-man roster this offseason.