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The Cincinnati Bengals announced that tight end Tyler Kroft signed his four-year deal two weeks ago. The deal is fairly standard, with a $647,776 signing bonus that totals at $2.97 million.
YEARS: Four
TOTAL: $2,971,276
SIGNING BONUS: $647,776
|
Year
|
Base Salary
|
Signing Bonus
|
Cap Hit
|
Dead Cap
|
|
2015
|
$435,000 | $161,944 | $596,944 | $647,776 |
|
2016
|
$540,500 | $161,944 | $702,444 | $485,832 |
|
2017
|
$628,000 | $161,944 | $789,944 | $323,888 |
|
2018
|
$720,000 | $161,944 | $881,944 | $161,944 |
Kroft played 37 games with 24 starts for Rutgers over three seasons (2012-14). He established his receiving potential as a junior, when he led the team in catches (43) and receiving yards (573). His totals fell to 24-for-269 yards as a senior, but Rutgers moved to a run-dominated offensive scheme for 2014, and he improved his NFL stock as a blocker and team player during the season.
"We graded Tyler as the best of the tight end prospects in this draft," said Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis during the team's announcement. "He has a great upside both as a blocker and a receiver. It was really a blessing in disguise for him that Rutgers went to pounding the ball on the ground last year. He had to put his hand in the dirt and work that physical game, and that helped him in the eyes of people evaluating him, because we don’t get to see that that much anymore with tight ends in college football."
Eight of the team's nine draft picks have signed their rookie deals, leaving first-round offensive tackle Cedric Ogbuehi as the lone unsigned rookie.