Cincinnati Bengals kicker Shayne Graham has signed his franchise tender.
Graham will make $2.483 million in 2008. He will be an unrestricted free agent in 2010, unless the Bengals reach a long-term deal with him in the interim, or tag him again.
Graham was unhappy about being tagged and skipped the first month of voluntary OTAs.

So, turns out Chad Ochocinco was hanging in NYC draft weekend.

Hot on the heels of the draft, the rookie pool allocations have been issued. The Bengals have a rookie pool of $6,636,324.
The rookie pool represents the amount of cap space a team may use up in signing its draft class. Pool allocations are greater for teams at the top of the draft and with more picks, and lower for teams in opposite situations. The rookie pool does not add to a team’s cap, but is rather a “cap within a cap.”

After drafting University of Cincinnati punter Kevin Huber in the fifth round last weekend, the Cincinnati Bengals have cut incumbent punter Kyle Larson.
Larson, statistically the league’s worst punter last season, had just signed a new deal with the Bengals in 2008.
Plackemeier was picked up on waivers in February.
With these cuts, seven Bengals have hit the streets since the end of the draft.

Layoffs at Clear Channel Radio have extracted their pound of flesh from sports radio and web coverage in Cincinnati.
1530 Homer sports blogger C. Trent Rosecrans, formerly with the now-defunct Cincinnati Post was among those handed a pink slip. His coverage of the Bengals — and more — has been exemplary, and earned him “Cincinnati’s Best Journalist” honors from CityBeat magazine just this year.
CityBeat also said: “BEST BREAK FROM CLICHE SPORTSWRITING: A funny, well-trained and creative young sports journalist in Cincinnati? The Enquirer doesn’t have any use for a person like this, which is why C. Trent Rosecrans moved on to [...]

The league is moving the September 27th game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers from a 1 p.m. to a 4:15 p.m. start, according to PFT.
The game, a home game for Cincinnati, is being shifted because the league switched the Titans/Jets matchup to a 4:15 start after being deluged with complaints about a conflict with Yom Kippur.

Pardon the dust here today. Looks nice, though, doesn’t it? Props to the Powers That Be at FanSided for great work.
We did, however, lose a few things, like all the links. If I’ve forgotten anyone in slapping them all back up, drop a note in comments.
We also lost the poll on Andre Smith, but at the time the voting was:
85%: Like the Andre Smith pick
15%: Should have picked Eugene Monroe.
0%: Should have picked someone else (not Monroe)
So Bengalsdom approves of the newest Cincy OT.
New poll coming shortly.

Kenny Zuckerman, agent for Bengals LT Levi Jones, says the Bengals have told him that they will trade or release Jones now that they have secured Andre Smith.
Buffalo and Chicago have been noised about as possible landing spots for Jones, who has struggled with injury since the 2006 season.
Zuckerman expects something to happen “shortly.”
The move is a little surprising only because the Bengals remain thin at tackle, and Smith is, of course, still unsigned. If he holds out for a protracted period — and this is a year rife with contractual land mines thanks to the looming uncapped year — [...]

The Cincinnati Bengals have parted ways with 2004 first-round pick Chris Perry.
Perry, the first pick in ‘04, played in just 35 games and rushed for 606 yards after missing all but two games of his rookie year and the entire 2007 season. He started the first six games of last season but was benched in favor of Cedric Benson when fumbles and a 2.6-yard per rush doomed him.
Perry finished with 3.4 yards per carry on 177 runs with two touchdowns as well as 83 catches for 474 yards (5.7) and two touchdowns.
The Bengals cut four others along with Perry: RB [...]

It’s the morning after the draft, and new names are still rolling in. According to NE Patriots Draft, a New England fan site, the Bengals have added three more undrafted free agents since last night (scroll down to the previous post for their initial list). The newcomers are:
DT Ty Steinkuhler (Nebraska)
QB Billy Farris (CSU)
C Colin Dow (Montana)
Steinkuhler, a 280 lb. DT, was a 13-game starter for the Huskers last season, finishing with 48 tackles, 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble.
The Sporting News War Room ranked Farris the No. 23 QB in the draft. A pocket passer, he only started his [...]