I think it is fair to say that Alex Erickson is a bit of a fan favorite. He has excelled at special teams play and last season appeared to be his breakout year at WR. I get the sense though that Erickson is not going to make the 2020 roster because of the talented crop of WRs on this team.
We know that the following are going to be suited up in Bengals stripes this season: AJ Green, Tyler Boyd, Tee Higgins, Auden Tate.
It is likely that if John Ross III is not traded in the preseason that he is going to make this team. It will be his one last shot to prove why he was a first round pick and you still cannot deny his speed. Ross makes the fifth wide receiver on the roster. Most teams only dress five WRs on the 53-man roster unless the 6th is a special teams guru. That is where Erickson still has a chance.
There are also some other players to consider: Trenton Irwin, DaMarkus Lodge, Stanley Morgan, Mike Thomas, Scotty Washington and Damion Willis. Of that group Mike Thomas, Stanley Morgan or DaMarkus Lodge could stand out and grab that sixth spot during the preseason.
Erickson is also in the final year of his contract and would only count for $167k against the cap with a savings of $1.9M. Perhaps they let Brandon Wilson and Darius Phillips take all of the returns. It would almost make sense that if Erickson isn’t going to be a 5th or 6th receiver that his only utility is as a returner which you can gave with an active gameday roster player.
I for one would like to find a way to keep Erickson. His 529 yards receiving last season and ability to stay healthy catches my eye. We often root for the little WR (he is only 6’0″) and he still feels like a gadget/gimmick type of player to me the same way that we should be using Giovani Bernard. If this is the last season for Erickson he has served the Bengals well and I hope he catches on with another team…preferably one that the Bengals don’t face in 2020.