The Cincinnati Bengals have retained trusty No. 2 quarterback Jake Browning as they re-signed him on a two-year exclusive rights deal, the team announced Tuesday.
Browning played excellent in relief of an injured Joe Burrow during the 2023 season. Browning threw for 1,936 yards with 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions, resulting in a 98.4 passer rating. Cincinnati went 4-3 with Browning under center.
We have re-signed exclusive rights QB Jake Browning to a two-year contract through the 2025 season.
📰: https://t.co/axEzOdtbiB pic.twitter.com/oUUYbAdPzG
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) April 23, 2024
The 28-year-old’s advanced metrics are even more impressive. It’s a small sample size, but here’s a glimpse at where Browning ranked among qualified QB seasons the past two years (95 qualified individual seasons) using these metrics via TruMedia and Sports Info Solutions:
- Expected Points Added (EPA) per dropback
- Passer rating
- Total QB EPA
- On target pass percentage
- Catchable pass percentage
EPA metrics
| Year | player | EPA/DB | Psr Rt | Total EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
2023 | 0.09 (19) | 98.4 (15) | 25.6 (26) |
On-target/catchable percentages
| Year | Player | ONT% | Rank | Ctch% | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2023 | 77.4 | 20 | 91.7 | 1 |
The Bengals seemingly liked what they saw and you can’t blame them.
It’s pretty typical for a team to hang on to a player eligible for an exclusive rights deal, a contract for a player with less than three accrued seasons on an expiring deal in the previous season. These deals are also usually for one year. Adding a second year to the contract shows the Bengals wanted no part in letting Browning walk away in the near future.
Browning went undrafted after a successful college career at Washington. He hopped on with the Minnesota Vikings in 2019, but never made it to the 53-man roster. The Bengals signed Browning to the practice squad in 2021 and he worked his way to backup status.
Bengals reward Browning
The Bengals did right by Browning, who proved himself in relief of Burrow last year. Browning was an exclusive right free agent set to make $915,000 on the minimum coming off his breakout year. Instead, Cincinnati added security in the backup spot with an extra year, providing more money for Browning in the meantime.
The confidence the staff and players have in Browning after what he did the final month-and-a-half of the season was an easy investment that gives Cincinnati one of the better starter-backup combos in the NFL. — Paul Dehner Jr., Bengals beat writer
Required reading
(Photo: Ryan Kang / Getty Images)
