March 16, 2026, 9:06 p.m. ET

Here’s a former Cincinnati Bengals player fans don’t think about often: Nick Scott. 

Scott joined the Bengals in 2023, played 46 percent of the snaps and was an overlooked mark in the disaster of a season that eventually led to a coordinator change a year later. 

Quietly, though, Scott has enjoyed a nice resurgence since his one season with the Bengals. 

And now, Scott was one of the players getting some extra money thanks to the NFL’s performance-based pay bump. He ranks fourth overall in the NFL in this area, good for a $1.26 million pay increase in 2026. 

It’s a little fun fact item and not much else. Scott has been with the Carolina Panthers for two seasons now and last year ranked as the 36th safety in the NFL on a list of 98 at PFF. It is, if nothing else, another example of how off the rails things got for the Bengals defense over the last few years.

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