Karras signed with Cincinnati as an unrestricted free agent in the 2022 offseason, and almost instantaneously became a vocal leader in the locker room ... He was elected a team captain, and started all 16 regular-season games as well as all three postseason contests at center ... Played 99.37 percent of offensive snaps (1099 of 1106) in the regular season, and steered an offensive line that allowed just 14 sacks in the second half of the season, compared to 30 in the first half ... Enters 2023 with 123 career games played including postseason (70 starts), and has experience at all three interior O-line spots (53 starts at C, 12 at LG and five at RG) ... Spent five of first six seasons with New England, with the only outlier coming in 2020 with the Miami Dolphins ... Originally a sixth-round pick of the Patriots in 2016, and played his first three seasons ('16-18) as a reserve before settling as New England's starting C in 2019 ... Won Super Bowls with Patriots in 2016 and '18.
Selected by New England in sixth round of 2016 NFL Draft (221st overall) ... Signed with Patriots on 5-6-16 ... Waived by Patriots on 9-2-17 ... Signed to Patriots practice squad on 9-3-17 ... Signed to Patriots roster on 9-7-17 ... Patriots contract expired 3-18-20; became unrestricted free agent ... Signed with Miami as unrestricted free agent on 3-20-20 ... Dolphins contract expired on 3-17-21; became unrestricted free agent ... Signed with New England as unrestricted free agent on 3-19-21 ... Patriots contract expired on 3-16-22; became unrestricted free agent ... Signed with Cincinnati as unrestricted free agent on 3-17-22.
2016—Played in all 16 regular-season games (one start at RG) and all three postseason contests as a rookie for New England team that won Super Bowl LI ... Started at RG in his NFL debut on Sept. 11 at Arizona ... Filled reserve and special teams role for remainders of regular season and playoffs ... Played three snaps on special teams in Super Bowl LI win over Atlanta.Â
2017—Played in all 16 regular-season games (two starts at C) and three postseason games for New England, as Patriots won AFC Championship and advanced to Super Bowl LII ... Both starts came in place of injured starter David Andrews ... Made first career start at C in Nov. 19 win over Oakland in Mexico City ... Started at C again the next week in Nov. 26 win vs. Miami.Â
2018—Played in 13 regular-season games (two starts at RG) and all three postseason contests for New England team that won Super Bowl LII ... Filled reserve role for Patriots, as both starts — Nov. 4 vs. Green Bay and Nov. 11 at Tennessee — came at RG in place of injured Shaq Mason ... Saw four snaps on special teams in Super Bowl LIII win over L.A. Rams.Â
2019—Played and started 15 games for New England ... Inactive Dec. 8 vs. Kansas City (knee), due to knee injury suffered Dec. 1 at Houston ... Served as team's No. 1 C throughout season after David Andrews was placed on Reserve/Injured prior to start of regular season ... Made first postseason start (at C) in Wild Card Playoff vs. Tennessee.Â
2020—Signed with Miami as an unrestricted free agent over offseason and went on to start all 16 games at C.Â
2021—Re-joined New England as an unrestricted free agent over offseason and went on to play in all 17 regular-season games and one postseason game ... Played Games 1-4 as a reserve, started at RG in Games 5-6, then took over starting LG spot for remainder of regular season and playoff game.Â
2022—Team captain in first Bengals season who started all 16 regular-season games and all three postseason contests at C ... Played 99.4 percent (1099 of 1106) of offensive snaps, third-most on the team ... Leader of new-look offensive line that allowed 14 sacks in second half of regular season, after giving up 30 in first half ... Blocked for QB Joe Burrow, who set single-season team records for completions (414) and passing TDs (35), while ranking in the top six leaguewide in completion percentage (68.3, second), passing yards (4475, fifth), and passer rating (100.8, sixth) ... Helped open holes for HB Joe Mixon's 153 rushing yards and four rushing TDs on Nov. 6 vs. Carolina, before being rested in the fourth quarter of 21-point win ... Played every snap on Dec. 4 against Kansas City, paving the way for HB Samaje Perine's 106 rushing yards on 21 attempts (5.0 average), while protecting Burrow as he completed 80.6 percent of his passes (25 of 31), including nine of 11 in the fourth quarter ... Played all 205 possible offensive snaps in postseason ... Part of blocking effort for Bengals' 172 net rushing yards in Divisional Playoff at Buffalo.
College:Spent five years (2011-15) at the University of Illinois, with a redshirt season in '11, and started 43 career games (all at RG) ... Four-year starter at RG ... Team captain as a senior in 2015, and was a three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection (2012, '14 and '15) ... Honorable mention All-Big Ten as a junior in 2014, then earned third-team honors (media) as a senior in '15 ... Was the seventh member of his family to play football in the Big Ten (more info in personal section).
High school/personal:Hometown is Indianapolis, Ind. ... Attended Cathedral High School in Indianapolis, where he helped his team to Indiana 4A state titles in 2008 and '10 ... Married wife, Rachel, in 2018 offseason ... Graduated from Illinois in December 2014 with a degree in communication, and also earned his MBA from Indiana University thanks to an NFLPA program that provides tuition assistance for players navigating a busy NFL schedule ... His father, Ted Karras Jr., played DT at Northwestern, and played briefly in the NFL for the Washington Redskins and earned a Super Bowl as a replacement player following the 1987 NFL lockout ... His father is a longtime football coach on the college level, and started the football program at Marian University in Indianapolis ... His grandfather, Ted Karras, was a DT at Indiana and then played nine seasons in the NFL, including helping the Chicago Bears to a World Championship in 1963 ... His great uncle is 2020 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Alex Karras, who won Outland Trophy as DT at Iowa and was four-time Pro Bowler with the Lions; Alex Karras went into acting after his playing career, and starred in 1980s sitcom "Webster" ... His great uncle, Paul Karras, played at Iowa; His great uncle, Lou Karras, played at Purdue and three seasons with the Washington Redskins; His uncle, Tony Karras, played at Northwestern.