If you want to know why the Bengals never wanted Samaje Perine to leave their backfield, just ask offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher about any specific moments he can remember about Perine protecting Joe Burrow.

Pitcher, who says Perine is one of the best pass-protecting running backs in the NFL, takes a minute to unfreeze the moment. Then he takes you frame-by-frame as Burrow zips a tying pass while the clock seethes to three minutes left in the game.

"Two-point conversion against the Dallas Cowboys. Week two of the 2022 season. Blocking Micah Parsons on the edge by himself," Pitcher says of the Cowboys' monstrous All-Pro sacker. "Samaje blocks him like a tight end or tackle. He pass sets him and blocks him. Maybe he's in a position like that twice a year, and he just happened to find himself in that one."

Perine found himself here again at Paycor Stadium Thursday to sign a two-year deal, and he never doubted he would return after one-year forays into the AFC West at Denver and Kansas City.

"I always thought I'd be back. I love playing for Zac (Taylor) and everything about playing for the Bengals in general," Perine said of his head coach. "We were able to work it out. I felt like it was time."

The other big reason he returned is Burrow, a fellow no-ego, no-frills guy. Asked if he'd heard from him, Perine said, "He knows I've got his back."

Burrow is back here, but the guy Perine backed up for four years, Joe Mixon, is not. Perine likes the looks of Chase Brown, the man whom replaced Mixon last year with a 1,350-yard season from scrimmage. He was debriefed by running back coach Justin Hill, who was also here with Perine.

"I watched him on tape some and I watched a couple of their games," Perine said. "He seems like a great dude. Seems like a pro's pro. That's unique with the success that he's had. He's able to keep his head down and just work and not complain if he's not getting the playing time he thinks he deserves. He's who you want to play with. You don't have to worry about dealing with some ego guy."

If it sounds like Perine is more worried about intangibles than anything else as he goes into his ninth year, that's because he is. It's what makes him so reliable and counted on.

"He's always been capable of anything we've put on his plate," says Pitcher, the quarterbacks coach when Perine was here the first time. "He's a pro in every sense of the word. He prepares. There's a very clear role for Samaje. He'll contribute immediately and we'll be able to hit the ground running. We won't have to feel each other out … We expect him to pick up where he left off."

Where he left off last year in Kansas City is carrying it just 20 times and catching it 28 for a total of two touchdowns. Where he left off with Cincinnati in 2022 is that two weeks after he caught three touchdowns playing for Mixon in a win in Pittsburgh, he rushed 21 times for 106 yards playing for him again in a huge Paycor win against the Chiefs.

Where Perine comes in this year is somewhere in between backing up Brown. He can offer a breather for a snap, a drive, a quarter, a half, a game, and always on a passing down.

"Chase Brown's development put us in a very advantageous position because there are a number of ways we can go about adding to that room because of how comfortable we are with Chase and the variety of things he can do," Pitcher says. "This was a very clean fit for us because there is a defined role in our minds that Samaje can fill for us."

Which is to say, anything. There isn't anything he hasn't done. He's played in three of the last four AFC title games and won two of them for two different teams. As he gets set to turn 30 early this season, he's got a vision.

He always wanted to play for head coach Sean Payton, so he went to Denver and said he found it "interesting." When the Chiefs' Andy Reid called him and said he admired his game and that he wanted him to play for him, Perine couldn't turn down a walking Hall of Fame exhibit.

"Outside of Zac being a great coach, he's a great guy," Perine said. "Same thing last year with Coach Reid, also a great guy. Towards my later years, I just want to play for great guys.

"I know there are other great guys out there, but what I've been a part of (Taylor), he's been top-notch. I always wanted to come back. It just happened to be now."