The Cincinnati Bengals will benefit from an NFL rule change approved this week dealing with emergency third quarterbacks on active rosters.
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, teams can now have a third quarterback on the gameday roster and it won’t count against the 53-man limit.
However, that emergency third quarterback must be on the active roster to be eligible for emergency activation on gameday. And during the game itself, that third passer can only enter the playing field if the two quarterbacks above him on the depth chart are injured — no benchings.
For the Bengals, it’s a nice boon to have further insurance behind Joe Burrow. And it could encourage them to keep both Trevor Siemian and Jake Browning. They haven’t been shy about how much they like the latter as a developmental prospect, so this could push them to find a way to keep all three on the final 53.
