Bengals roster breakdown is back! During the 99 days leading up to Cincinnati's regular season opener against the Cleveland Browns, the player with the matching jersey number as days remaining will become the day's highlighted player.
60 days remain until the Bengals' first game of the 2025 season, which has us going over everything to know about No. 60 Jaxson Kirkland.
Jaxson Kirkland
Age: 26
Year: 3rd
Position: Guard
College: Washington
Previous Teams: None
Jersey Number: 60
Kirkland enters his third season in the NFL and the Bengals after going undrafted during the 2023 NFL Draft. He spent six years at Washington and played five years, all as a starter. He was first placed at right guard from 2018-19 before taking over at left tackle during the shortened COVID-19 season in 2020. He stayed at LT in 2021 and his first game of 2022 before moving to left guard to close out his final year.
Cincinnati kept Kirkland on its practice squad for the first 10 weeks of the 2023 season before placing him on the Practice Squad/Injured list with a wrist injury. He returned in the 2024 offseason and wound up making the initial 53-man roster. He made his NFL debut in Week 4 on special teams and played his first three offensive snaps in Week 5 before a torn biceps ended his season.
Kirkland was an exclusive rights free agent with only one accrued season to his name, and the Bengals brought him back again.
Contract Details
Kirkland signed a one-year, $960,000 contract extension in March. His entire contract is a non-guaranteed base salary of $960,000, so his potential cash earnings and salary cap hit for the season is that amount.
Roster Outlook
There's a starting guard battle happening between Cody Ford and Lucas Patrick, and another competition will form lower on the depth chart. Kirkland should have a fighting chance to make the 53 as the last offensive lineman if they go with nine total players. He's not a backup center, Ford or Patrick will be the first guard off the bench, and Jalen Rivers is a virtual lock to make the team as a fifth-round pick.
That ninth spot could go to either Kirkland or Cordell Volson. It's as much of a coin flip as any training camp battle will be in Cincinnati.
Kirkland is only 10 days younger than Volson despite having one fewer year of experience, and he made the roster last year just like his competitor. If he puts together six weeks of practice and preseason tape comparable to Volson, he'd be a cheaper option to stash on the roster with as much, if not more, positional versatility.
Midseason injuries have hampered Kirkland the last two years, but expecting him to leave August healthy is a safe bet. I think it's more likely than not he'll get the nod whether they land on nine or 10 for the o-line.
Roster odds: 60%
Projected role: Ninth (and normally inactive) o-lineman
Previous Player Profiles
- No. 99: Myles Murphy
- No. 98: T.J. Slaton Jr.
- No. 97: Shemar Stewart
- No. 96: Cam Sample
- No. 95: Howard Cross III
- No. 94: Eric Gregory
- No. 93: McKinnley Jackson
- No. 92: B.J. Hill
- No. 91: Trey Hendrickson
- No. 90: Kris Jenkins Jr.
- No. 89: Drew Sample
- No. 88: Mike Gesicki
- No. 87: Tanner Hudson
- No. 86: Kole Taylor
- No. 85: Cam Grandy
- No. 84: Tanner McLachlan
- No. 83: Erick All Jr.
- No. 82: Mitchell Tinsley
- No. 81: Jermaine Burton
- No. 80: Andrei Iosivas
- No. 79: Andrew Coker
- No. 77: Caleb Etienne
- No. 76: Devin Cochran
- No. 75: Orlando Brown Jr.
- No. 74: Jalen Rivers
- No. 73: Andrew Stueber
- No. 71: Amarius Mims
- No. 69: Dante Barnett
- No. 68: Seth McLaughlin
- No. 67: Cordell Volson
- No. 66: Tashawn Manning
- No. 65: Matt Lee
- No. 64: Ted Karras
- No. 63: Dylan Fairchild
- No. 62: Lucas Patrick
- No. 61: Cody Ford
