CINCINNATI — A move that had been in the works for weeks was finally made Sunday.
The Cincinnati Bengals benched veteran linebacker Logan Wilson in favor of rookie Barrett Carter. Both Wilson and Carter technically got the start in the loss to the Green Bay Packers. However, Wilson was off the field in any two-linebacker sets and didn’t play any defensive snaps in the second half aside from a kneel-down in the final minute.
Wilson was asked by reporters Tuesday whether he thought he was still performing well enough to start.
“I felt like I was,” Wilson said. “But obviously [Bengals coach] Zac [Taylor] felt otherwise.”
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Since being drafted in 2020, Wilson has developed into one of Cincinnati’s core defensive players. He has been a starter since 2021 and is in the middle of a four-year, $36 million contract. That deal runs through the end of the 2027 season.
Wilson said the switch was finalized early last week and that there were no hard feelings toward Carter, a fourth-round pick out of Clemson. The move had been foreshadowed earlier in the season.
In the team’s Week 3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, Wilson was subbed off the field in favor of Carter. At the time, the move was communicated as a way to take snaps off the sixth-year veteran.
But Wilson still understood that it meant uncertainty regarding his future standing with the club.
“I can’t control what their plan is moving forward,” Wilson told ESPN on Sept. 25. “I’m just trying to control doing my job to the best of my ability on each play and helping this defense out the best I can.”
Against the Packers, a 27-18 defeat and Cincinnati’s fourth straight loss, the Bengals opted to roll with Carter alongside fellow rookie Demetrius Knight Jr., who has been the team’s other primary starting linebacker. Carter played all 61 defensive snaps against Green Bay. Wilson played 20% of them.
On Monday, Taylor said the team will continue with Carter.
“Anytime you put a rookie out there, there’s an element of risk to it,” Taylor said. “When are you going to expose yourself to that risk? Are you going to do it sooner rather than later?
“I just felt he’s shown enough to [have us] continue to work through it. We’re going to see constant improvement every single game.”
Carter said his goal is to do what he can to win games and help Cincinnati snap its four-game skid. As the team transitions to Carter from Wilson, the rookie said he’ll continue to lean on the veteran throughout the process.
“No matter what the coaches decide to do, it’s not up to me, it’s not up to him,” Carter said. “But we both love each other. We both go to war with each other.”
