CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bengals are releasing linebacker Germaine Pratt Monday, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.
Pelissero reported Monday afternoon that releasing Pratt would net the team $5.6 million "in cash and 2025 cap space."
The Cincinnati Bengals have not announced Pratt's release themselves yet.
Releasing Germaine Pratt saves the #Bengals $5.6 million in cash and 2025 cap space ... https://t.co/WlqmWFXH57
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) June 9, 2025
Pratt has played with the Cincinnati Bengals since 2019, when he was the Bengals' third-round draft pick. In February, Pratt requested a trade, according to reports from Pelissero and NFL's Ian Rapoport.
During the 2024 season, Pratt, a defensive captain, led the team with 80 tackles.
In 2023, Pratt was re-signed to a three-year deal that was set to end at the end of the upcoming 2025 season.
So far this year, the Bengals have forged contract extensions with key players like Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, but defensive end Trey Hendrickson has made multiple statements about communication breakdowns between he and the team over his own contract. Hendrickson has been eligible for a contract extension, but the Bengals have yet to come to terms with him. He signed a one-year contract extension in July 2023 that would keep him in Cincinnati through the 2025 season.
In February, QB Joe Burrow said the team has the space to keep their top players. When asked on FS1's Breakfast Ball, he said he'd be willing to restructure his own mega-contract to retain his team's top talent, even including tight end Mike Gesicki.
He later told Kay Adams on her Up & Adams show that he's "going to do what it takes" to hopefully keep everyone around.
Prior to those media rounds Burrow made during Super Bowl week, he also told reporters during the Pro Bowl that Ja'Marr Chase and his other teammates "deserve to be paid."
