John Ross

Bengals decline receiver John Ross' fifth-year option

The Cincinnati Bengals have informed wide receiver John Ross that the team will not pick up his fifth-year option.

What It Means:

A top-ten pick back in 2017, Ross has failed to live up to the hype that his record-breaking 4.22-second 40-yard dash promised at the NFL Combine. After finishing his rookie season with negative fantasy points, Ross has appeared in just 18 games in the two seasons since then. He'll need to demonstrate that he can stay healthy if he wants to cash in on his upcoming free agency after the 2020 season.

Despite Ross' struggles to stay healthy and his disastrous rookie season, he has shown significant growth over the past two seasons. His yards per target shot up to a solid 9.0 mark in 2019, and in the first two games of the season he posted an incredible 270 receiving yards and 3 scores. He'll get one more chance to put it all together with first-overall pick Joe Burrow in 2020.