In the second round of the 2026 NFL Draft, the Cincinnati Bengals further bolstered their pass rush by adding Cashius Howell, a talented defensive end out of Texas A&M.

And on Tuesday, the team signed him to a rookie contract, bringing all seven rookies under contract.

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During a recent OTA practice, Dan Hoard quoted Bengals assistant GM Mike Potts as saying this about Howell:

“His arsenal of rush tools and the moves that he has — I don’t wanna speak for anybody else — but I thought it was second-to-none in this draft class.”

Howell is an exciting player for sure. He’s the kind of guy who can contribute right away, especially with a beefed-up defensive line taking up space in the middle.

We talked about the rookie class in our NFL Draft recap, which you can watch below if you missed it originally: