CINCINNATI (AP) — Quarterback Desmond Ridder, who led the University of Cincinnati to a College Football Playoff spot in 2021, signed with the Bengals on Sunday.
Ridder is entering his fourth season and gives the Bengals another veteran backup behind Joe Burrow. Ridder has played in 25 games and made 18 starts in previous stops with Atlanta and Las Vegas. He has passed for 4,002 yards in his career with 16 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. He also has rushed for five scores.
Jake Browning has been the Bengals' number two quarterback the past two seasons and has played in 12 games, including seven starts in 2023 after Burrow suffered a season-ending wrist injury.
Logan Woodside was waived to make room for Ridder.
Cincinnati also announced the signings of defensive tackles McTelvin Agim and Taven Bryan, along with center Andrew Raym.
The defensive line signings are likely to provide depth after first-round pick Shemar Stewart did not report with the rest of the rookies on Saturday, and Trey Hendrickson, last year's NFL sack leader, expected to hold out as he seeks a new contract.
Veterans report on Tuesday, with the first practice scheduled for Wednesday.
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FILE - Atlanta Falcons quarterback Desmond Ridder (9) warms up before an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints in New Orleans, Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Butch Dill, File)
EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — Harrison Smith's 14th year as a steadying presence and energizing force in the secondary for the Minnesota Vikings has hardly been smooth.
The undisclosed health-related matter that sidelined him during training camp was a major setback to his conditioning, putting him in catch-up mode for most of the first half of the season. The Vikings defense was more vulnerable than usual over those early games, too.
Then with the offense struggling through the developmental process with quarterback J.J. McCarthy, the Vikings stumbled through November to drop to 4-8 and precipitate their elimination from playoff contention.
But lately?
“I’ve been playing football a long time,” Smith said after Minnesota's victory over the Detroit Lions on Christmas Day, “and I have not had fun like that in my whole career.”
Smith received the NFC Defensive Player of the Week award for that performance in his 206th regular-season game, after logging three passes defensed, two tackles for loss, one sack and one interception. He last won that award in 2018.
With career totals of 21½ sacks and 39 interceptions, Smith is just the second player in NFL history to hit those marks, behind Pro Football Hall of Fame member Ronde Barber, who had 28 sacks and 47 interceptions. Smith is also one of four players all time, with Barber, Brian Dawkins and Charles Woodson, to total at least 50 tackles for loss, 100 passes defensed and 200 regular-season games played. Smith (202) also trails only Jim Marshall (270) and Mick Tingelhoff (240) on the team’s all-time list for career starts.
Following the interception against the Lions, Smith was feted on the sideline in a circle of his teammates. He was the recipient of multiple ovations from the U.S. Bank Stadium crowd. Afterward, as Smith tried to sum up what that experience meant to him, his voice cracked several times before he had to pause to compose himself.
“The fans here have never experienced a Super Bowl. They always show up, and for them to keep showing up ... it just shows how much they love the team, how much they love everything that goes into it," Smith said. “We’re out of the playoffs, and everybody shows up in white. They do their part, and one of these days they’ll get it.”
The scene sure felt like a farewell. But so did Smith's emotional postgame remarks after the Vikings were ousted from the playoffs last season.
Could he envision himself returning for a 15th year?
“I can’t speak on that right now. I’m a very much in-the-moment type of guy,” Smith said.
Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell, who has forged a close relationship with the six-time Pro Bowl safety, has made no secret of his desire to keep Smith in place.
Defensive coordinator Brian Flores has turned over some of the play-calling and decision-making to Smith on the field before and after the snap, and an increased emphasis on blitzing in recent weeks has paid plenty of dividends.
"He has an unbelievable feel of the system. He has an unbelievable feel of what ‘Flo’ and the defensive staff really want to do, and he’s out there playing a game within the game,” O’Connell said. “It’s been spectacular to watch. It’s been awesome from my perspective to watch what he’s able to do at this point in his career mentally, and then physically he’s making a lot of plays as well.”
The uncertainty about next season for the defense stretches beyond Smith, with other expensive veterans facing the possibility of being released for cost savings with the Vikings projected to be well over the salary cap approaching the 2026 league year.
Then there's Flores, whose contract will soon expire, making him a free agent. Though his landmark discrimination lawsuit against the NFL that’s still in the court system nearly four years later continues to loom over any interviews he gets for head coach openings, there's also an opening for another club to try to lure him away with a break-the-bank offer for a lateral move.
O'Connell said this week that he doesn't anticipate such a scenario playing out and hopes to have him as long as he can before he's hired again as a head coach.
“I love Minnesota. I love this team. I love working for and with K.O.," said Flores, who was head coach of the Miami Dolphins from 2019-21 and joined the Vikings in 2023. "This place has shown me a lot of love, and I show them right back, and so I don’t know how much more there is to it. From a football standpoint, it fits. There’s always a, let’s call it, business part of this. But the football all lines up. We’ll just see where it all goes.”
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Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff (16) throws under pressure from Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith (22) during the second half of an NFL football game, Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)
Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores stands on the sideline before an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions, Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)
