Cincinnati Bengals sign Eldorado's Zach Gentry to practice squad, Packers do same with Rio Rancho's Keshawn Banks
Sep. 5—Albuquerque's Zach Gentry isn't out of the NFL just yet.
The Cincinnati Bengals on Tuesday announced they have signed the Eldorado High graduate and former Pittsburgh Steelers tight end to its 16-man practice squad.
Gentry and three other former area high school standouts — Manzano's Jordan Byrd (Steelers), and Rio Rancho High School's Keshawn Banks (Green Bay Packers) and Grant Hermanns (New York Jets) — were casualties of last week's NFL cutdown day when the league's 32 teams had to trim official rosters to 53 players.
Banks, a rookie linebacker who has not played in the NFL yet and who graduated from San Diego State University along with Byrd last year, was added last week to the Packers' practice squad.
Practice squad players in their first two years make $12,000 per week on the team. Players with more then two years' experience can make between $16,100 and $20,600 a week.
The Bengals have three tight ends on their active 53-man roster for Week 1 of the season: Irv Smith Jr., and Drew Sample, each with five years' experience, and Mitchell Wilcox with four.
The 26-year-old Gentry was the star quarterback for the Eagles in 2014 and graduated from Eldorado in 2015 before playing at Michigan in college. He was drafted by the Steelers in the fifth-round in 2019 and played four seasons for Pittsburgh, playing 40 games and starting 25 over the past two seasons.
The 6-foot-8, 265-pound Gentry developed into one of the better blocking tight ends in the game, albeit in what seems to be an era where tight ends are asked more than ever to be pass-catchers.
According to the statistical database sisdatahub.com, Gentry was in on 304 rushing plays last season and was charted as having just three blown blocks (1.0%). In 72 passing snaps he was asked to block on, he blew just one block (1.4%).
