Yesterday, T.O. signed with the Bengals. And today, CBS Sportsline is saving you money. It’s a great week to be a Bengals fan.

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It should be no surprise that the acquisition of Terrell Owens has led to an abundance of Bengals coverage in cyberspace. ESPN.com’s James Walker and NFL.com’s Steve Wyche both think it will work. Walker brings up an interesting point, the weaknesses of other AFC North secondaries.

” The Baltimore Ravens‘ secondary is banged up. The Cleveland Browns have young corners and safeties, and the Pittsburgh Steelers still have work to do to get back to their 2008 form. Adding Owens will help strengthen Cincinnati and take advantage of other division teams’ weaknesses. The Bengals were at their best passing the ball when T.J. Houshmandzadeh was able to take advantage of Ochocinco being double-teamed. Now AFC North defenses will have to consider bringing back that strategy. Overall, adding Owens for one year — at their price — was a good move by the Bengals”

And Wyche notes that the Bengals’ offensive line must improve as well. Although the unit was solid last season in the run game, it was hardly an elite pass-blocking unit. Andre Smith in particular offers hope for improvement.

“Cincinnati also must get more from tackle Andre Smith, last year’s first-round draft pick, who was set back his rookie season because of a contract holdout and a foot injury. One reason the Bengals passed the fifth fewest times in the NFL is because the pass protection wasn’t solid. Their low total of sacks allowed is deceiving because they ran the ball so much, which played to the strength of their offensive line.”

Joe Reedy has also kept busy, reporting that Carlos Dunlap has signed and relaying some interesting prop bets from Vegas on T.O.

The Bengals made their bed and Terrell Owens is lying under the covers. Now, it’s time to lay in it. Skip Bayless, who I usually try to ignore, actually brought up a good point today on ESPN’s First Take. With Chad Ochocinco making about $5 million per year and T.O. in at $2 million, Antonio Bryant is the highest paid Bengals receiver this year. Bryant also owns No. 81. Maybe it’s just a number, but I think the resolution of who wears it (Owens has worn 81 throughout his career) will be a good indication of how the Tres Amigos can coexist.

I think Owens should opt for Ocho Cuatro (84), signifying his partnership with Ochocinco. I also have a feeling, as does Bengals beat writer Joe Reedy, that Bryant is still slowed by his knee injury, even if he’s expected to practice this week.

The training camp storylines that are present every year, just got a little juicier yesterday. Let’s hope Owens – and everyone else – makes them more sweet than sour.

The Bengals signed Terrell Owens today, giving the team two receivers with a reality show, and what is likely a $7-million per year slot receiver. It also knocks emerging receivers Andre Caldwell and Jordan Shipley back a few spots on the roster and probably bounces Matt Jones and maybe even Jerome Simpson off the team.

It’s an “all-in” kind of move. And it deserves a new word. I’m officially “anxcited” (anxious but excited) about all things T.O.

The Bengals now have three receivers who have averaged more than 14-yards per catch for their careers. In layman’s terms, that means Owens, Ochocinco and Antonio Bryant are a threat to go deep on every pass play. In a sense, the team has three No. 1 receivers. But there’s only one football.

If the Tres Amigos (I’m using Espanol for the Ocho) can coexist, Cincinnati should have the pieces together for a stellar season. If things implode, we’re all in trouble. The fallout will vaporize every T.V. broadcast, newspaper headline and web site in the country.

As I said before, I’m anxcited about the team’s newest wide receiver. Now, play nice Terrell.

It’s time once again for the Bengals to sign their rookies – or more precisely – to low-ball them into submission. Geoff Hobson reports that University of Texas draft picks Roddrick Muckelroy and Jordan Shipley could both be signed within 24 hours. (That’s about the same time frame in which the Bengals are hoping to hear from Terrell Owens). But what is troubling is that there isn’t much news regarding Carlos Dunlap and Jermaine Gresham.

Quite frankly, there’s no reason either player should miss any part of training camp. The Bengals have ruined careers by their stubbornness in negotiations and I’d hate to see it negatively impact two players who could contribute this season. Some missed time is expected with high draft picks, but neither Gresham or Dunlap fits that category.

Hopefully, the team is beginning to realize that saving a few dollars isn’t worth the sacrifice of some missed practice time for top players. So spend the money and sign the deals.

Puh-lease.

If you’re like me, you have mixed emotions about the Bengals pursuit of the talented yet tempermental circus that is Terrell Owens. Workhorse Joe Reedy is reporting that the Bengals have made an offer to Owens (no doubt a low one, do they ever do anything else?) and are waiting on a response that should arrive before training camp opens. It is rare that I am conflicted on personnel moves, but Owens is an interesting case. So here’s what I’d like about T.O. – and what I don’t.

What I like: Owens gives the Bengals a top-notch trio of wide receivers. Owens, Chad Ochocinco, and Antonio Bryant have all been No. 1 receivers and all possess the deep speed that would really open up the run game. Plus, Owens is an above-average blocker whose effort has rarely been questioned. And finally, signing Owens sends a message to the entire team, loud and clear: “We’re trying to win it all this year. And we’re doing everything we can to accomplish that goal.”  The Bengals have been criticized in the past for being cheap, but in this case, they would be doing the opposite, spending huge chunks of cash at the wide receiver position.

What I don’t like: For starters, the worst-case scenario scares the beejesus out of me. Imagine for a second that Carson Palmer gets hurt and J.T. O’ Sullivan is in charge of throwing passes to the triumvirate of Owens, Ochocinco, and Bryant. The locker room would become a nuclear reactor and the season a ticking time bomb. The mere pursuit of Owens has me worried that Bryant might be not fully recovered from his knee injuy. And after the “shebacle” (thank you Emmit Smith) that was Laveranues Coles’ overpriced season, the $28 million allocated to Bryant makes me more than a little nervous. I’m also worried that signing Owens would retard the growth of the Bengals young receivers, especially Andre Caldwell, who is supposed to be the team’s most improved player.

Quite frankly, if Bryant is healthy, I think the team has enough options at receiver. But I think Bryant might still be slowed by his injury, and I think Owens’ Cincinnati price tag might be extremely low. So I expect that T.O. will sign with the Bengals.

And I’m still not quite sure how I’ll feel about it.

NFL.com takes a look at the Bengals before training camp and examines three key questions. One of the important ones revolves around the kicker. As we all saw in Cincy’s playoff game last season, a kicker can lose games single-handedly. Hopefully, either Dave Rayner or Mike Nugent (I’m personally rooting for the Nuge. Go Bucks!) can win the job and perform admirably on the field. Time will tell.

Marvin Lewis got a little rosy recently – and I’m not talking about O’ Donnell (Rimshot! Laugh track!)

In a segment with Bengals.com and the Cincinnati Enquirer (hire me! I’ll blog for pay), Lewis sounded extremely optimistic about this year’s Bengals, seemingly satisfied about everything from Jordan Shipley to Jermaine Gresham to Andre Caldwell and everyone else on the roster. Indeed, the Bengals seem to have much more talent perhaps than they have ever had. But the challenge moving forward will be to take that team far into the playoffs, something that hasn’t happened since Boomer Esiason was tossing the pigskin. I think this Bengals team has the ability to make some postseason noise, but a lot can happen between now and January. So let’s hope for a healthy and productive training camp and preseason. Then, bring on the Patriots in Week One.

Who Dey!

I’ve been catching some criticism (Daniel Coats has been dropping it. Ha!) for my protective stance on Carson Palmer, but this latest statistic seems to offer some support. According to a thread on the Bengals message board, which cites another source, the Bengals were sixth in dropped passes last season.

The team a total of 34 drops last season, dragging down Palmer’s completion percentage by a considerable margin. Granted, every quarterback deals with drops, but this statistic – if true – implies that Palmer dealt with a lot more than others. Which proves that I know what I’m talking about. Sometimes.

The guerillas at WhoDey Revolution uncovered this interesting bit from Bill Barnwell of Football Outsiders. Barnwell looks at talent under the age of 25. And much like a college bar, the Bengals have a good bit, ranking sixth out of the 32 NFL teams. AFC North rival Baltimore is fourth, Cleveland is seventh (no doubt an improvement over recent years), and saggy-skin Pittsburgh is 19th (its best players are old, no doubt).  Here’s an excerpt of what Barnwell wrote about Cincy:

“They have a big three of 25-and-under talent in middle linebacker Rey Maualuga, weakside linebacker Keith Rivers and cornerback Leon Hall — who was jobbed on a Pro Bowl spot last year.”

It’s obvious that the Bengals are going to be a strong defensive team moving forward and it would be wise to start re-signing some of the key players right now. With real money, Mike Brown. And a good bit of it. Every day that ownership waits to approach Jonathan Joseph and Leon Hall about extensions is going to make their price tags higher. And we all know the Bengals don’t like high price tags. So pay up. Now.