Karras signs one-year extension with Bengals

Tenth-year center will be with team through at least 2026 season
Bengals center Ted Karras hikes the ball to quarterback Joe Burrow during Cincinnati's AFC Wild Card playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023 at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati. The Bengals won 24-17. NICK GRAHAM/STAFF

Credit: Nick Graham

Credit: Nick Graham

Bengals center Ted Karras hikes the ball to quarterback Joe Burrow during Cincinnati's AFC Wild Card playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023 at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati. The Bengals won 24-17. NICK GRAHAM/STAFF

The Cincinnati Bengals signed center Ted Karras to a one-year contract extension through the 2026 season, the team announced Friday morning.

According to multiple reports, the deal is worth $5 million.

Karras is going into his 10th NFL season and his fourth with the Bengal. He originally signed a two-year deal as a free agent in 2022. He was extended in 2024 for another two years and was entering the final season of that deal with the opener looming Sunday at Cleveland.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do in both,” Karras told Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “I’ve been blessed and lucky to be doing it this long and to be now signed for year 11.”

A captain since he arrived in Cincinnati, Karras has been a leader in the locker room and on the field, starting all 53 games he has played, including postseason appearances, and has lined up for 3,514 of a possible 3,533 offensive snaps since joining the team.

The Bengals on Friday also waived tight end Tanner McLachlan from the reserve/injured list.

A second-year player, McLachlan was a sixth-round draft pick of the Bengals in 2024 and played in two games as a rookie last season but was inactive the first 14 games. He was placed on the Reserve/Injured list on Aug. 27.

Cincinnati kept five tight ends on the 53-man roster, and the Bengals had signed free agent tight end Noah Fant last month to fill the role left open with Erick All’s extended absence following setbacks in his second ACL surgery.

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