Former Buffalo Bills running back Zack Moss has a new deal with the Cincinnati Bengals one year after suffering a major injury.
Moss was limited to eight games last season with a neck injury, rushing for 242 yards with two touchdowns and catching 23 passes for 187 yards and another touchdown. He is expected to compete for a spot in Cincinnati’s backfield this coming season and just gave his team a bit of salary cap relief with a reworked deal.
New Deal a Good Sign for Zack Moss
Insider Mike Garofolo of the NFL Network reported on the new deal on Monday, saying it represented a good sign for Moss as he works his way back from last season’s injury.
“#Bengals RB Zack Moss agreed to a reworked final year of his contract to get guaranteed money and security in a deal done by his agents Jamal Tooson and Kate Ferrara,” Garofolo shared in a post on X. “Moss is recovering from a neck injury that cut last season short. Clearly, the team is confident in his return.”
Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk noted that Moss will likely take a pay cut with the new deal.
“Moss was scheduled to earn $3.475 million, non-guaranteed in 2025, with a $4.8 million cap hit,” Williams wrote. “He gets more guaranteed money, per Garafolo, but likely less money after his 2024 season was cut short by injury.”
Moss first came to the Bills as a third-round draft pick in 2020, having a strong rookie season with 481 rushing yards and four touchdowns, along with 14 receptions for 95 yards and a receiving touchdown. But Moss fell down the depth chart and was eventually traded to the Indianapolis Colts during the 2022 season as the Bills began to lean more heavily on then-rookie James Cook.
Moss had a career-best season with the Colts in 2023, rushing for 794 yards and five touchdowns and adding 27 receptions for 192 yards and two receiving touchdowns.
Bills Face Big Question in the Backfield
The Bills handed the reins to Cook shortly after trading Moss and were rewarded with two of the best seasons in recent history. Cook topped the 1,00o-yard plateau in each of the last two seasons — the first Bills running back to do that since LeSean McCoy — while leading the NFL with 16 rushing touchdowns in 2024.
The Bills now face a big question about Cook’s future as he heads into the final season of his rookie contract. Cook has floated the idea of a new contract and hinted at wanting $15 million per season, but Bills general manager Brandon Beane made it clear that the team is not close to that number.
Beane said contract talks with Cook did not progress and the team was preparing to start the season with no extension in place.
“I love Jimbo, proud of his success, just like these other guys that we got extended,” Beane said at the Annual League Meeting, via NFL.com. “I don’t talk about negotiations, I would say his reps and him did put it out there that we did talk, so I’m not sharing anything new. It didn’t lead to anything as far as closing in on a deal, so we moved onto the guys that we were more on the same page with.”
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