Bengals Releasing CB Dre Kirkpatrick

According to Tyler Dragon, the Bengals are releasing CB Dre Kirkpatrick. 

The Bengals have made a number of additions to their secondary in free agency this offseason, so this move was expected to clear cap space. 

According to Over The Cap, releasing Kirkpatrick frees up $8.29 million in cap space while creating $2.8 million in dead money. 

Kirkpatrick, 30, is a former first-round pick of the Bengals back in 2012. He played out his four-year, $8.622 million rookie contract before agreeing to a five-year, $52.5 million deal with $12 million guaranteed back in 2017.

Kirkpatrick stood to make a base salary of $9.4 million for the 2020 season. 

In 2019, Kirkpatrick appeared in six games and recorded 33 tackles, one sack, a fumble recovery and four pass defenses.