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The Cincinnati Bengals today re-signed free agent LB Jordan Evans. Per the team’s website, Evans returns on a one-year deal.
Evans, a fifth-year player out of the University of Oklahoma, was originally a sixth-round draft pick of the Bengals in 2017. In his first four years with Cincinnati, Evans has played in 60 games (nine starts), with 78 solo tackles, 3.5 sacks, seven passes defensed, and two interceptions.
Lou Anarumo with a great call here on 3rd and medium! Disguise cover 1 and bring Vonn Bell on the blitz. Bates shows off his very impressive man-to-man coverage skills to get the deflection off the hot read. Jordan Evans reacts and makes a nice interception on the ball. pic.twitter.com/j2Zio0gjd3
— Sans (@bengals_sans) October 5, 2020
While he’s only played 961 snaps on defense, Evans has played 1,058 snaps on special teams and has established himself as one of their best players in that unit. In 2020, Evans finished with a 77.6 Pro Football Focus special teams grade last year, the third-highest on the Bengals. Their highest-graded special teamer, Cethan Carter, left for the Miami Dolphins earlier in March.
Evans, now 26, returns to a linebacking corps that figures to start former third-round picks Germaine Pratt and Logan Wilson. Fellow young players Akeem Davis-Gaither and Markus Bailey will round out the group along with Evans, who is now the most experienced linebacker the team has rostered.