When I was at the first Bengals training camp practice, I shook Dylan Fairchild’s hand when he came over to engage with fans. Let me tell you, the Bengals’ offensive line could be in much better hands with him protecting Joe Burrow.
Dylan Fairchild
- Height: 6-5
- Weight: 318 lbs.
- Age: 22
- College: Georgia
- Hometown: Cumming, Ga.
- Experience: Rookie
Cap Status
Fairchild is under contract for the next four seasons with the Bengals, which will be the first four seasons of his career. His contract is worth up to $6,421,180, including $1,309,948 signing bonus, $1,309,948 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $1,605,295.
In 2025, according to Spotrac, Fairchild will earn a base salary of $760,000 and a signing bonus of $1,309,948, while carrying a cap hit of $1,087,487 and a dead cap value of $1,309,948.
Background
The second former Georgia Bulldog on the Bengals’ offensive line, Fairchild played in 34 games with 24 starts in four seasons with the Bulldogs. A member of both of Georgia’s national championship teams in 2021 and 2022, he became a regular starter the following season and was part of a Georgia offensive line that led the SEC and ranked seventh in the country with 0.93 sacks allowed per game.
In addition, the Bulldogs also ranked second in the SEC and fifth in the country with 496.5 yards per game.
This past season, Fairchild made a national name for himself by earning Second-Team All-American honors and First-Team All-SEC by the AP. He started all 14 games for the Bulldogs, including the SEC Championship and College Football Playoff Quarterfinals at the Allstate Sugar Bowl, and helped the Bulldogs rank third in the SEC with 281.0 net passing yards per game.
Fairchild and Bengals right tackle Amarius Mims were teammates at Georgia from 2021-2023.
An All-American at West Forsyth High School, Fairchild was selected to the 2021 All-American Bowl and helped his team rush for over 1,400 yards and 12 touchdowns in 12 games.
In addition to football, Fairchild also has a 67-0 wrestling record and won back-to-back Georgia state titles in the Class 7A heavyweight division.
Outlook for 2025
Fairchild has been consistently taking reps with the first-team offensive line since training camp started. He’s been lined up at left guard, a position that has been manned by Cordell Volson for the last three seasons.
It’s clear that Fairchild has the attention of the Bengals’ coaching staff and is going to be a major candidate to start up front in Week 1. Take this quote from offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher:
“To me, it’s a blend of stoutness, power, ability to anchor versus power, and the ability to re-direct laterally with quickness. There’s a lot of explosive, twitchy interior rushers in our league, so you have to have that appropriate blend of strength and lateral mobility. We believe Dylan has both those things in spades.”
If he starts on the offensive line in Week 1, Fairchild is ready to protect the Bengals’ franchise quarterback.
“It’s something that I’m going to live and die by every single day,” Fairchild said the night the Bengals drafted him in April. It’s the biggest honor of my life. And I’m just super excited to do it. Again, I’m gonna live by the sword and die by the sword and give my all every single day to do so.”
See More:
