Cincinnati Bengals waive punter and 2023 sixth-round draft pick Brad Robbins

CINCINNATI – The Cincinnati Bengals have waived player Brad Robbins, ending the 2023 sixth-round pick's tenure with the team.

Currently.

But it could take forever if rookie Ryan Rehkow continues to perform the way he has shown through the first four weeks in both gross punting average (58.4) and net punting average (49.7 ) rises to the top of the NFL rankings.

A day after Rehkow's impressive performance in a 34-24 win at Carolina – three punts for an average of 56.7 yards, with two inside the 20 and one inside the 10 – the Bengals activated Robbins from injured reserve on Monday 53-man squad.

It was a procedural step necessitated by the fact that the team benefited from a new rule this year that allowed teams to designate up to two players to return from IR on cutdown day, which meant they didn't have to take this to the first game with the 53-man roster before making the IR move, as has been the case in the past.

Defensive end Myles Murphy was the other player the Bengals had designated for a return at the time, and the team is expected to open a 21-day window for his return to the 53-man roster this week.

By applying the new rule, the Bengals had to re-sign Robbins to the 53-man roster before waiving him if they wanted to be eligible to re-sign him at any point this season.

When Robbins injured his hip flexor in August and landed on IR, it was thought that Rehkow, who had been impressive but inconsistent during training camp and preseason games, would use the four weeks to continue his audition.

If the Bengals were still unsure, they could have kept one player on the active roster and one on the practice squad and let the competition continue in practice.

But Rehkow has proven that he deserves the job.

The Bengals could have placed Robbins on injured reserve for much longer as a contingency plan, but they are doing him a favor by releasing him now so he can audition for other teams.

The timing was right as they had an open spot on the 53-man roster after placing Trent Brown on IR last week with a patellar tendon injury.

If Rehkow starts to struggle, the Bengals could pick up the phone and call Robbins if he doesn't end up on another roster.

At the moment, however, Rehkow is well on his way to breaking team records.

Kevin Huber holds the franchise record for best gross punting average in a season with 47.18 in 2020 (Drue Chrisman had 47.8 in 2022 but was 12 punts below the minimum of 40 to qualify).

Huber also holds the record for net punt average of 42.82, which he set in 2020.

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