Former Texas Longhorns defensive end Joseph Ossai is expected to re-sign with the Cincinnati Bengals on a one-year deal worth $7 million, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports.
Ossai, the No. 69 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, unfortunately missed his entire rookie season after suffering a meniscus injury in his second preseason game. He came back after that and assumed his role as a rotational pass rusher.
In 47 regular-season games with the Bengals, of which he started just three, Ossai has 73 total tackles, 32 quarterback hits and 9.5 sacks. He posted a career-high five sacks in 2024.
Unfortunately, Ossai’s biggest moment in the NFL was one to forget.
With eight seconds left in the 2022 AFC Championship Game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Ossai committed an unnecessary roughness penalty against star quarterback Patrick Mahomes. That allowed the Chiefs to kick a game-winning field goal to advance to Super Bowl XLVII.
After that game, Ossai said he’d use it as a learning opportunity, though he was appreciative of his teammates’ support.
“I gotta learn from experience,” Ossai told reporters after the game, per ESPN. “I gotta know not to get close to that quarterback when he’s close to that sideline if it’s anything that could possibly cause a penalty in a dire situation like that. I gotta do better.”
At Texas, though, Ossai was nothing short of a menace. In three seasons with the Longhorns, he had 165 total tackles, 31 tackles for loss, 11 sacks and five forced fumbles. He was a first-team All-Big 12 selection and consensus All-American in 2020 after leading the conference with 16 tackles for loss in nine games.
Ossai is the second former Longhorn to sign on Monday after defensive lineman Poona Ford, who signed a three-year deal worth nearly $30 million with the Los Angeles Rams.