It didn’t take long for pass rusher Takk McKinley to find a new home as the Cincinnati Bengals announced on Wednesday that they have claimed the former first-round pick, adding him along their front seven. The Atlanta Falcons officially parted ways with McKinley on Monday, waiving the 25-year-old after a falling out between the two sides.
McKinley, who was selected by the club in the first round of the 2017 draft out of UCLA, was looking to get out of Atlanta dating as far back as last season. It appeared he was going to be dealt around the trade deadline this year, but it never came to pass. At that point, McKinley took to social media claiming that the Falcons had turned down viable offers for him.
“These Falcons turned down a second-round draft pick when I requested to get traded last year,” McKinley wrote on Twitter at the time. “The same Falcons turned down a fifth- and a sixth-round draft pick from multiple teams when I requested to get traded this year. I only have 17.5 career sacks.”
As the relationship continued to deteriorate, Atlanta came to the decision to simply cut their losses and move on, paving the way for him to land with the Bengals. Cincinnati was in the market for some pass-rushing help after just trusting away long-time pass rusher Carlos Dunlap to the Seattle Seahawks around the deadline. For the season, Zac Taylor’s squad has just 11 sacks, which is tied for the fourth-fewest in the NFL.
McKinley also appears to have been a pretty popular figure on the waiver wire. According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the San Francisco 49ers, Las Vegas Raiders, and Cleveland Browns also put claims in on him, but it was the Bengals who ultimately won out for his services.
The pass rusher has been limited to just four games this season due to a groin injury he’s dealt with since Week 2. Over that stretch, the 6-foot-2, 230 pounder has just eight tackles, seven quarterback hits, and a sack. For his career (49 games, 25 starts), the former No. 26 overall pick has 17.5 sacks, 22 tackles for a loss, and 45 quarterback hits.
