Bengals signing undrafted CB Antonio Phillips, per report

The Cincinnati Bengals make their first splash of college free agency with the signing of Ball State cornerback Antonio Phillips. Per Yahoo! Sports’ Eric Edholm, Phillips gets a $25,000 signing bonus in his three-year contract.

In his four years at Ball State, Phillips started 29 games while recording 26 pass defenses and eight interceptions. Though he played and contributed for all four years, Phillips missed at least one game due to injury every year for the Cardinals.

A 22-year old native of St. Louis, Missouri, Phillips was ranked 298th on The Athletic’s consensus big board, and NFL Draft analyst Dane Brugler graded him as a sixth-rounder, so the Bengals got some value right after the draft concluded.

The Bengals splurged on cornerbacks in free agency back in March, so they weren’t expected to draft a cornerback. Phillips can compete for snaps in training camp and maybe even give Tony Brown and Eli Apple some competition to make the final roster in September.