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.
65 days remain until the Bengals' first game of the 2025 season, and No. 65 Matt Lee's new number has him in the spotlight on the birthday of the country.
Matt Lee
Age: 24
Year: 2nd
Position: Center
College: Miami (Fl.)
Previous Teams: None
Jersey Number: 65
Lee enters his second season with the Bengals after being drafted 237th overall in the seventh round of the 2024 NFL Draft. He finished his five-year college career with one season as Miami's starting center. He spent the previous four years at Central Florida, where he came off the bench for four games as a true freshman in 2019 and started 33 games from 2020-22.
Cincinnati pitted Lee against 2021 sixth-rounder Trey to be Ted Karras' backup at center, and the rookie won the battle during training camp and the preseason. Lee made the 53-man roster but never repped at his natural position during the 2024 regular season. Orlando Brown Jr.'s Week 7 knee injury actually created a role for him at another position. Cody Ford replacing Brown at left tackle caused Lee to be next-man-up as the offense's sixth offensive lineman attached to the formation in their heavy packages, essentially playing as an inline tight end. He appeared in eight games and took 27 snaps at the position during the back-half of the season.
Contract Details
Lee is in the second year of his four-year, $4,121,752 rookie contract. He can earn a base salary of $960,000 for the 2025 season, which also represents his total cash earnings for the year.
When adding on his signing bonus proration of $25,438, Lee's salary cap hit for the 2025 season will be $985,438.
Roster Outlook
If all goes well for the Bengals' offensive line, Lee won't see the field at all this year outside of replacing Karras in garbage time scenarios. Him proving he can fill in at a vastly different role last year definitely raised his value. Perhaps he could see time at guard if needed? He's now up to 310 pounds, nine pounds heavier than he was when drafted. He's still a plus athlete at that size and can probably make it work anywhere along the interior.
Earning reps anywhere he can remains Lee's goal, but outside of multiple injuries occurring, he's likely to stay behind Karras and act as his backup yet again. Rookie UDFA Seth McLaughlin will work behind both of them once he's fully cleared to practice with his recovering Achilles, but don't expect Lee to lose his spot to McLaughlin. That battle should truly be held in 2026 following the expected expiration of Karras' contract.
Projected role: Backup center
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
