Jim Owczarski

jowczarski@enquirer.com

The Cincinnati Bengals cut their roster to 75 before the 4 p.m. deadline on Tuesday by making four roster moves, the most notable being the termination of veteran kick returner and wide receiver Brandon Tate's contract.

Tate has been with the Bengals since 2011 and is the franchise's all-time leader in punt returns with 1,411 yards. He had a career average of 9.2 yards per return on 149 attempts in his career.

"He's been a guy that's been essential to what we've done over the last couple years," Bengals left tackle Andrew Whitworth said. "He's been a pro's pro, a great example and leader for the guys. He will be missed. Definitely I think a guy that helped us probably more than people realized."

Tate is second in franchise history in kick-return yards with 3,517. He also caught 57 passes for 901 yards with six touchdowns. He is now an unrestricted free agent and can sign with any team.

"Brandon Tate has meant a great deal to the football team and how to do things the correct way all the time," Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said. "That’s one of the harder decisions we’ve had to make for a good person, good man, great family. Gives him hopefully another jump on an opportunity this year and may be back here at some point."

That opens the door to the 53-man roster for undrafted free agent Alex Erickson, who has scored three touchdowns this preseason, including on an 80-yard return against Minnesota in the preseason opener.

"I think Alex earned a spot," Bengals special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons said. "He earned the opportunity for that spot. Not that Brandon lost it, but I think Alex earned that spot with his playmaking ability. You saw it. Everyone was kind of surprised week one. I was, too. And then it just kept happening week after week after week and there's something there. I have a great deal of faith in him."

Erickson is averaging 41.8 yards per punt return in the preseason, returning four punts for 167 yards.

"You've got to be consistent, you've got to be able to bring it every single day," Erickson said. "That's the biggest challenge as a young player is not being on that roller-coaster, just a steady increase and never allow yourself to get too high, never too low and just stay steady the whole time."

Steady was perhaps the best adjective for Tate, who lost one fumble in five years.

"It's always tough anytime you waive a player, especially with somebody like Brandon, somebody you have a great deal of trust in," Simmons said. "It's somebody I have an immense amount of respect for. I've had a lot of skins with him. We've won a lot of games with Brandon Tate. I've said that since Day 1, since he's been here. And I still say it to this day. But I'm also excited about what the future holds for the guys we have here in Alex and Tyler. I think it goes to show you the amount of belief I have in those guys, too."

As for Tate, his departure leaves a void for some of the veterans in the locker room.

"I haven't seen nothing out of nobody where Tate shouldn't be here," fellow punt returner Adam Jones said. "I really don't have nothing to say about that."

It's a sentiment Whitworth understands.

"I know guys aren't happy with it," Whitworth said. "But when they give you an opportunity to come to camp and earn a job and do you the right way by at least giving you a week to find new home, I think that's as good as it can be done in that situation."

The rookie out of the University of Wisconsin also understood the weight of Tate's release in the locker room.

"It's one of those things where you just kind of got to keep your head down and keep going," Erickson said. "That's the unfortunate side of this business. You just gotta just control what you can control and just try to push forward. It's tough. You form relationships with these guys. You work so hard with these guys for months, since I've been here. It's tough. It's tough for those guys, guys you grind with, guys who push you and guys you competed with."