The Cincinnati Bengals have released 345-pound offensive tackle Cody Ford, ending a three-year run that began when he signed as an unrestricted free agent in the 2023 offseason.
The team announced the move ahead of the NFL’s final roster cutdown, which is due by 6 p.m. ET Sunday.
Head coach Zac Taylor said the timing was meant to give Ford a head start on finding a new team rather than waiting until the last minute.
Ford, 29, is an eighth-year veteran listed at 6-foot-3 and 345 pounds. Buffalo selected him in the second round (38th overall) of the 2019 NFL Draft out of Oklahoma.
He spent his first three seasons with the Bills, played for the Arizona Cardinals in 2022, then joined Cincinnati in March 2023. He later signed one-year and two-year extensions with the Bengals.
In Cincinnati he appeared in 50 regular-season games and made 10 starts, filling in at both tackle and guard, often on short notice.
He entered this training camp as a candidate for the swing-tackle role behind starters Orlando Brown Jr. and Amarius Mims. Younger players, including Javon Foster and Jalen Rivers, took more second-team reps as camp progressed, including in the preseason game against the Chicago Bears.
Taylor praised Ford’s versatility and reliability.
“We liked him in the draft process and then we acquired him years later and gave us three good years of football,” Taylor said. “Now I wish him the best on the next part of his journey.”
The coach added that the team is still evaluating backup options at tackle and remains open to adding a player from outside the roster.
One of Ford’s most memorable moments in a Bengals uniform came last December. On his 29th birthday, in a 37-14 win over Arizona, Joe Burrow hit him for a 21-yard reception.
The 345-pound lineman is believed to be the heaviest player in NFL history with a 20-plus-yard play from scrimmage.
The release reflects Cincinnati’s push to get younger and more athletic along the offensive line after mixed results from the veteran group this summer.
Ford’s combination of size, experience, and positional flexibility should draw interest from teams that need depth before Week 1. For the Bengals, the swing-tackle job remains unsettled as they continue to sort their 53-man roster.
