Cincinnati Bengals center Kyle Cook scored $268,122 from the NFL’s performance-based bonus pool. That was the 18th-largest check cut by the league, which overall handed out $109 million in bonus checks.
Cook was one of just 22 players league-wide to earn more than $250,000 in performance-based coin. An undrafted free agent in 2007 out of Michigan State, Cook was initially signed by the Vikings, was cut after preseason, and ended up on the Bengals’ practice squad. Cook was active on special teams in 2008, and was rumored to be replacing the ineffective Eric Ghaicuic prior to the Dallas game, but was [...]

The Cincinnati Bengals have been awarded third- and fourth-round compensatory picks in the upcoming April draft, giving them a total of nine selections, including four in the top 100. Comp picks can’t be traded, but they do make trading their normal selections more attractive, should the team be so inclined.

Former Tampa Bay wide receiver Antonio Bryant has signed a four-year, $28 million deal with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Doubtless he won’t be as entertaining as Terrell Owens, but he offers hopes of a medium-term solution at wide receiver, and moreover, helps clear the way for a non-wide-receiver pick in the first round.

TUESDAY’S NOT GONE WITH THE WIND YET UPDATE: T.O. gets the coveted Ryan Fitzpatrick endorsement:
“It’s hard not to like T.O. He was fun to play with and no one worked harder,” Fitzpatrick said Tuesday. “And let me tell you something. He can still flat out run by people.”
“The Bengals and Terrell make a lot of sense,” said Fitzpatrick, who started 12 games for the Bengals in ‘08. “Carson is at his best when he’s throwing the long ball and they’ve had trouble lately getting Chad freed up because he’s always double covered. They don’t have a deep threat on the [...]

DT Tank Johnson will re-sign with the Cincinnati Bengals, per the team’s official site, which passes along word from Johnson himself via his Twitter feed.
According to ESPN’s John Clayton, Johnson signed a four-year deal.
Johnson appeared in 14 games (13 starts) with the Bengals last year, recording 29 tackles and two sacks. He was hampered most of the season by a case of plantar fasciitis, but despite that played well and was seen as one of the in-house free agents the Bengals most needed to retain.

The Cincinnati Bengals fessed up to a $10 million mistake today, cutting wide receiver Laveranues Coles just less than a year after signing him to (fail to) replace T.J. Houshmandzadeh. With not a lot available in free agency, this will only increase speculation that the Bengals will look for a wideout in the first round next month.