The Cincinnati Bengals threw out a mild surprise on Monday in free agency by bringing back linebacker Germaine Pratt.
Surprise, because all signs seemed to suggest Pratt would test the market and potentially make more money elsewhere while finding a team that would let him play more third downs.
Instead, Pratt goes back to the Bengals on a three-year pact.
And based on the numbers from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, it’s an affordable one for the team too — Pratt gets $10.35 million in Year 1 and $15.15 million over two years. No word on the cap hit in each of those years, but this is quite a bit lower than what the open market could have inflated his price to be. Lesser-than-expected deals for other ‘backers before Pratt did his deal surely played a role.
As it stands now, there’s a chance the contract doesn’t hurt the team’s ability to eventually do an extension with Logan Wilson, either.
Overall, it’s a fantastic move for the Bengals at a good price. Pratt is one of the league’s top coverage linebackers when he’s on the field. He’s improved year-to-year and just played a career-high 76 percent of the snaps, earning an 80.6 PFF grade.
Pratt probably isn’t going to see a further bump in playing time, but he got a respectable deal compared to the market and gets to stick with a contender. Fans, of course, get to see the strong linebacker corps stick together and Pratt, the guy who picked off the Raiders to end the playoff drought, sticks in town.
