Former Pittsburgh Steelers’ seventh-round pick defensive lineman Carlos Davis is back in the AFC North.
Davis, who was the No. 232 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, is signing with the Cincinnati Bengals, according to a tweet from NFL Insider Aaron Wilson.
Coming out of Nebraska in the 2020 NFL Draft, Davis was a surprise draft pick for the Black and Gold due to his squatty build and lack of a true defining trait in the trenches. To his credit, though, he stuck around as a depth piece, appearing in 12 games with Pittsburgh across three seasons from 2020-2022.
Carlos Davis saw most of his playing time in the Black and Gold as a rookie, logging 54 defensive snaps and making seven tackles. But despite an intriguing rookie season, his role diminished each of the following two seasons.
In the 2022 season, Davis appeared in just one game, playing 12 defensive snaps against the Philadelphia Eagles and recording one tackle and his first NFL sack.
Since then, he’s bounced around professional football.
Carlos Davis spent training camp in 2023 with the Falcons, signing with Atlanta in June last summer before being cut at the end of training camp. Then, he signed with the Birmingham Stallions of the UFL before they released him in December 2023 to allow him to sign with the Falcons’ practice squad.
The Nebraska product then re-signed with Birmingham in January and went on a great run with the Stallions, earning All-UFL honors after the 2024 season.
Now, he’s looking to build off of that great season in the UFL by trying to stick with the Bengals. He joins a deep defensive line room that was overhauled in the offseason, featuring Sheldon Rankins, B.J. Hill, rookies Kris Jenkins Jr. and McKinnley Jackson, and veterans Jay Tufele and Zach Carter
