Bengals 2025 Roster Breakdown: Cam Grandy reminds us contributors can come from anywhere

Bengals roster breakdown is back! During the 99 days leading up to Cincinnati's regular season opener against the Cleveland Browns, the player with the matching jersey number as days remaining will become the day's highlighted player.

85 days remain until the Bengals' first game of the 2025 season, which brings us to No. 85 Cam Grandy.

Cam Grandy

• Age: 25
• Year: 2nd
• Position: Tight end
• College: Illinois State
• Previous Teams: None
• Jersey Number: 85

Grandy enters his second season with the Bengals after going undrafted in the 2024 NFL Draft. He played one year at Illinois State and spent the previous five seasons at Missouri Western State. He hauled in 63 receptions (second most on the team) for 612 yards and three touchdowns for ISU in 2023, earning consensus first-team FCS All-American and first-team All-Missouri Valley Football Conference.

Cincinnati added Grandy to its first practice squad iteration following final cuts last offseason and stayed there until Week 10 when he was elevated for the first time. He was signed off the PS entirely for Week 11 and played a total of eight games. 

Contract Details

Grandy signed a one-year, $980,000 contract in January. He can earn a base salary of $960,000 this season and is in the process of earned a $20,000 workout bonus. 

Grandy's salary cap hit and potential cash earnings for 2025 is his exact contract value of $980,000, and the Bengals can release him without taking on any dead money.  

Roster Outlook

Grandy wasn't expected to see any time at all on the active roster last season, but Erick All Jr.'s injury forced him into action in November. He handled inline blocking duties well enough on such short notice that the Bengals kept him in the plans for the entire back-half of the year. The decision to extend him over a month before his contract expired this offseason speaks to Grandy's newfound value in the offense going forward. 

As far as true tight ends are concerned, Grandy is only behind Drew Sample on the depth chart. He's their second inline option in traditional 12 personnel packages, and there may not be another who can oust him for that role this year. Maybe rookie UDFA Kole Taylor has a shot, but half the tight end room is essentially comprised of big slot receivers. All being out until 2026 buys Grandy time to further establish himself in Cincinnati's  ever-evolving  offense. 

Not bad for an undrafted FCS player.

Roster odds: 85%
Projected role: Rotational tight end

Previous Player Profiles

• No. 99: Myles Murphy
• No. 98: T.J. Slaton Jr.
• No. 97: Shemar Stewart
• No. 96: Cam Sample
• No. 95: Howard Cross III
• No. 94: Eric Gregory
• No. 93: McKinnley Jackson
• No. 92: B.J. Hill
• No. 91: Trey Hendrickson
• No. 90: Kris Jenkins Jr.
• No. 89: Drew Sample
• No. 88: Mike Gesicki
• No. 87: Tanner Hudson
• No. 86: Kole Taylor