After starting his NFL career with the Cincinnati Bengals, rookie cornerback Ceyair Wright is reportedly trading football for Hollywood — for now. Cincinnati announced Saturday that Wright had left the team to “pursue other opportunities.” He was placed on the Exempt/Left Squad list, and the team signed rookie CB Matthew McDoom in a subsequent move. Though the Bengals did not clarify what those opportunities were, Wright has reportedly left the team after being offered a major acting role that “he couldn’t pass up,” per KPRC 2’s Aaron Wilson. Filming for the role, which is reportedly a “lead role in a big movie,” will run through late October. Despite pivoting to pursue his acting career, Wright is not giving up on playing in the NFL, per Wilson. He will be available to play after filming wraps. In a press conference on Saturday, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said that Wright had informed them of his choice to leave, saying that it was “a difficult decision for him.” “I think two things he’s really passionate about were colliding, and he decided to pursue this opportunity,” Taylor said. Though the move appears to be a bit of a pivot, Wright has been acting since he was a kid. The Los Angeles native had his big break in 2021’s “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” playing the older son of LeBron James. Wright filmed that role in 2019, while he was still in high school, but still continued to balance his acting with his football career. The cornerback played at USC for three seasons before transferring to Nebraska and spending two years as a Cornhusker. Wright signed with the Bengals as an undrafted free agent in May. When speaking to Yahoo Sports ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft, Wright credited the grueling audition process with helping his football mindset.
"One of the biggest lessons that I got from acting was learning to deal with mistakes and rejection," Wright told Yahoo Sports recently. "The film industry is a tough industry. In the process of auditioning frequently, you are mostly going to hear no's. … That lesson is carried through my life, because I'm able to make mistakes now and I'm not affected by it in an extreme way. I'm able to rebound quickly. Especially with football, that short-term mindset is something that's very important."
He also said that he wanted to continue to balance his two passions. "When it comes to acting, who knows how that stuff will work? One day, if it makes sense, I can look into it, or down the line after I'm done playing,” Wright told Yahoo Sports ahead of the draft. That day appears to have arrived sooner rather than later.
Though Wright could theoretically return to the NFL after production wraps in October, it’s less clear if he would return to the Bengals. Based on Taylor speaking about Wright’s presence on the team in past tense, though, it seems unlikely. “We wish him the best. He was fun to be around, he really competed hard for us. It was fun watching him play,” Taylor said. “But obviously he’s chosen to go a different path.”