Archive for March, 2009

FULLBACK WATCH: On Seattle radio, ESPN’s John Clayton claims Seahawks FB Leonard Weaver may be an Eagle by the end of the day. Former Saints FB Mike Karney didn’t get to St. Louis until last night, and speculation among Rams fans is that the team will make a hard run at him after freeing up $6 million in cap space yesterday by cutting tackle Orlando Pace. If Weaver bolts, the Seahawks are reportedly poised to sign ex-Raider FB Justin Griffith. The Bengals have hosted restricted free agent FBs John Kuhn (Packers) and Naufahu Tahi (Vikings), but didn’t make an offer [...]

I mentioned this in comments a few posts down, but it deserves note on its own as well: the St. Louis Rams today released Hall-of-Fame-bound LT Orlando Pace. The move is relevant to the Bengals in two ways. First, if healthy, Pace represents a stopgap veteran option at tackle, in much the same way that Richmond Webb was a few years back. But more importantly, the release of Pace would seem to lock St. Louis into offensive tackle with the second overall pick. Should the Lions choose OT over QB with the first pick, and the Seahawks excercise their option [...]

The Cincinnati Bengals confirmed yesterday’s visit with restricted free agent fullback John Kuhn (Packers). Like earlier visitor Naufahu Tahi, another restricted free agent fullback, Kuhn left Cincinnati without an offer. “The dilemma teams face is that they need to make an offer that’s good enough so the other team won’t match,” Kuhn’s agent, Kevin Gold, told bengals.com. In that case, why not pursue a fullback who’s unrestricted? Last week, the Saints cut veteran fullback Mike Karney, a powerful lead blocker who seems ideally suited to the team’s needs. Karney is visiting the Rams today. Another possibility is Seattle FB Leonard [...]

Newly minted Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Laveranues Coles will make nearly $10 million this year as part of the four-year, $28 million deal he signed  last Wednesday. Coles, who is entering his 10th season, received a $3 million signing bonus, a $4.7 million roster bonus, a $1.9 million base salary and a $100,000 workout bonus all in 2009. Coles will earn base salaries of $4.6 million in 2010, $6.4 million in 2011 and $6.4 million in 2012, and is eligible for a $100,000 workout bonus each year as well. The front-loaded deal means that from next year on, the Bengals [...]

Both the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns are sniffing around South Carolina TE Jared Cook. A potential late first/early second round selection, Cincinnati’s interest in Cook only underscores the team’s lousy luck at tight end over the past year. Last offseason, the Bengals signed TE Ben Utecht away from the Indianapolis Colts, only to see him limited to 10 games with sternum and foot injuries. Backup TE Daniel Coats spent the year struggling at fullback after Jeremi Johnson ate his way off the squad. Former Villanova TE Matt Sherry, taken in the sixth round on the ’08 draft, suffered a [...]

The rumor mill is churning up a few familiar names in connection with the Bengals: C Eric Ghiacuic, DT John Thornton and G Mike Goff. I wouldn’t mind seeing Thornton return in a reserve role. When injuries pushed him out to defensive end last season, I thought he actually played rather well. In comments to a recent post on his blog, Thornton said he hoped to decide on where to play in ’09 by the end of this week. On the other hand, Ghiacuic returning at center is a horrifying thought. The problem for Cincinnati, though, is simply that this [...]

Two events in the first week of free agency have sent the mockosphere back to the drawing board. The first was New England shipping QB Matt Cassel to the Chiefs, which eliminated QB Mark Sanchez from contention at the No. 3 spot. The second was Seattle’s acquisition of WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh, which is being read as a sign that the Seahawks won’t take Michael Crabtree with the fourth pick. Instead, Kansas City is now projected to take a top defender such as Aaron Curry or Brian Orakpo, while the new conventional wisdom says the Seahawks will pursue an offensive tackle [...]

The Cincinnati Bengals have released safety Dexter Jackson along with a trio of practice squad players, G James Blair, CB Marcus Brown and DE Victor DeGrate. Jackson became expendable when the team re-signed Chris Crocker. In three seasons with the Bengals, the one-time Super Bowl MVP appeared in 29 games (28 starts), amassing 148 tackles, 1.5 sacks and 3 interceptions. The Bengals now have six safeties on the roster: Crocker, Chinedum Ndukwe, Mike Doss, Kyries Hebert, Marvin White and Corey Lynch. Jackson’s release should free up about $1.5 million in salary cap space.

Looking around the division, the Bengals seem to be having a pretty good free agent period relative to the Ravens, Steelers and Browns. So far, the Browns have traded, cut or seen signed elsewhere LB Andra Davis, TE Kellen Winslow, CB Terry Cousins and LB Antwaan Peek, along with several more backup and special teams players. Against this they retained S Mike Adams and signed TE Robert Royal away from the Bills. Over at DPD, Steve says the new regime in Cleveland is focused on rebuilding through the draft and so are looking to acquire extra picks (as they did [...]

The Cincinnati Bengals’ deal with former 49ers QB J.T. O’Sullivan will count roughly $2 million against the 2008 salary cap, which is a surprisingly large figure. Historically, the Bengals have not been willing to fork over much more than minimum salaries for the No. 2 QB spot, giving fans another data point by which to judge if the organization has finally decided to join the modern NFL. The Bengals introduced Laveranues Coles yesterday, and head coach Marvin Lewis used the opportunity to take a few parting shots at T.J. Houshmandzadeh. Lewis cited Coles’ average yards per catch (12.1) as a [...]