The best video of NFL cutdown weekend came out of Cincinnati, and it was not the Bengals releasing a name-brand veteran. It was a phone call to a former Canadian Football League receiver who spent all summer trying to convince Zac Taylor’s staff he belonged.
Wide receivers coach Troy Walters hopped on a video call with Dohnte Meyers on Sunday. Walters walked Meyers through the journey. The December workout. The February signing. The playbook nights that ran into the early morning. The preseason plays that turned heads.
Then Walters told him he made the 53-man roster. The Bengals’ social team put it out and the reaction video did what it was supposed to do. It made people care about a name they had never heard of the day before.
Meyers went undrafted in 2023. He spent time in the CFL sharpening his route running and finding out what it takes to get open against DBs who are bigger and stronger than most college corners. He worked out for the Bengals in December, signed with the practice squad in February, and turned every rep in training camp into a chance to get one more.
Then he flashed. Preseason opener. Preseason finale. Both times against the type of depth defensive backs teams cut in Week 1. Meyers ran clean routes, caught contested balls, and looked like a guy who belonged.
Cincinnati clearly agreed. They kept him.
The bigger picture matters here. Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins are the top two receivers on the roster. Andrei Iosivas is the third. Meyers slots into a rotational role, but the Bengals are always one injury away from needing a fourth or fifth guy to matter. He has a real chance to see the field, especially if Cincinnati is up two scores late.
He also has a real chance to disappear. The reality of the 53-man roster is that Week 1 cuts do not settle anything. The Bengals will churn the bottom of their receiver room throughout September. If Meyers does not contribute on special teams or hit a splash play early, he is on the practice squad in three weeks.
That is not a knock. That is the job. What the video does is remind everyone that the guys at the bottom of NFL rosters have earned every practice snap the hard way. Meyers played in a CFL that starts in June and runs through November. He came back to the States, took the Bengals up on a January workout, and outlasted longer-tenured players who thought their spot was safe.
The video is worth watching. Meyers is worth rooting for. Cincinnati is worth respecting for keeping the story alive.
Now the harder part starts. He has to stay.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
