“What 2014 free agent (excluding Geno Atkins) do the Bengals need to re-sign the most this summer?”

Joe Johnson

You absolutely MUST KEEP MICHAEL JOHNSON ! He’s quickly becoming one of the best defensive ends in the league. We have to keep. Our defensive line intact. It is the best pass rushing line in the league and is the strength of this team. Michael is a huge part of it. Not re-signing him would be flat out idiotic. Taking him away will weaken that line, and that’s something we don’t need. You need to actually do something right and re-sign him during the regular season. Let’s get this done.

Oct 7, 2012; Columbus, OH, USA; Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill (17) is sacked by Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Michael Johnson (93) in the first quarter at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

Brian Dugan

Always a tough decision as to whom has to be the top priority to sign long term, but given the list of potential free agents, this one to me is easy.  The franchise tagged Michael Johnson is the player the Bengals need to strike a long term deal with going into this summer.  Johnson has only improved for the Bengals since being drafted in the 3rd round in 2009.  Johnson was considered a “raw talent” coming out of Georgia Tech, and many analysts projected Johnson as a 1st round pick.  The Bengals could barely believe it when he fell to the 3rd round and nabbing him there was an absolute steal.

Johnson accumulated 52 total tackles, including 35 solo, amassed 11.5 sacks, a forced fumble and an interception in 2012.  With lots of attention going to Atkins and Dunlap on the front line, Michael Johnson sometimes gets lost in the shuffle, unless you are an opposing quarterback.  Look for more dominant stats this season as Michael Johnson gets another year under the direction of Mike Zimmer, and if the Bengals don’t sign Johnson long term, another team will be more than happy to pony over the cash.

Jul 27, 2012; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer coaches during training camp at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports

With OTAs set to open today, the Cincinnati Bengals will be hitting the practice field for 10 workouts over the next three weeks. This will be the first time this year’s draft class has an oppurtunity to workwith their veteran teammates, while the vets are finally able to work off some of the rust as they practice on a football field for the first time in 5 months.

Former NFL safety Solomon Wilcots helped get the Bengals to Super Bowl XXIII as the team’s starting free safety, and he’s happy to see them he finally have a good offseason in which they re-sign all of their key free agents:

I love the offseason they had. We can see the Bengals as an organization doing as good a job developing their roster as any team in the league.

I think the money was used wisely. They brought back significant players they could have lost. Michael Johnson.Andre Smith was very critical in getting him back at the right price and right value. In the draft, I thought they went really deep in getting some really good players. They got some players that can play now and some players they can develop for the future that can be really great players in this league.

Bengals defensive end Michael Johnson is looking to go “one-and-done” and cash in on his big 2012 season in which he amassed a career-high 11.5 sacks, which ultimately earned him a $11.175 million contract in 2013. Instead, he’s focused on working to improve and help his team win ballgames:

“I’m going to do the same thing I did last year,” he said of his career 11.5-sack season. “Just go out and work hard and that stuff will take care of itself. Work hard week in and week out and if this team wins, everything will be straight.”

“I was ready to come back last month,” he said of the start of offseason workouts. “It was really a challenge for me to stay focused. It was real hard to study. I wanted to be back with them.”

Linebackers coach Paul Guenther knows it will take a lot of work to incorporate newly-acquired James Harrison into a 4-3 defense after he spent his entire career in Pittsburgh’s vaunted 3-4 system under Dick Lebeau. But Guenther has seen enough of Harrison’s abilities to know he will find a way to fit the former NFL Defensive MVP into the Bengals defense:

“We all feel good about how he rushes the passer, obviously,” . “He’s done the same coverage stuff that he did in Pittsburgh that he’ll do here. Just a little difference in terminology and sight lines.”

Harrison didn’t put on a show in Tuesday’s news conference. He is that serious about it all. Since he arrived Monday, Guenther says Harrison has been one of the first guys in the building in the morning because he gets his workout and treatment out of the way before heading upstairs to spend at least an hour with him one-on-one going over the defense as they prep for field work in the afternoon.

“He just has to get used to how we want it done, not how he did it before; that’s the main difference,” Guenther said. “You try to assimilate the system with his terminology until he fully gets ours. ‘This equals that,’ until he can really grasp it.”

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Feb 3, 2013; New Orleans, LA, USA; Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco (5) celebrates with the Vince Lombardi Trophy after defeating the San Francisco 49ers 34-31 in Super Bowl XLVII at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

With the deadline for teams to utilize the franchise tag coming up this Monday, there is some activity going on around the league with several teams to tag one of their high-value players.

The look at the AFC North actually doesn’t provide very much exciting news.

It’s known that the Bengals recently tagged DE Michael Johnson. He will make 11.1 million next season, following a stellar 2012 with 11.5 sacks.

Neither the Cleveland Browns or the Pittsburgh Steelers will use the tag before the deadline, or are at least very unlikely to do so.

Looking at the Baltimore Ravens, Joe Flacco just became the highest-paid player in the NFL with a six-year, 120.6 million dollar contract from Baltimore. That pretty much makes the franchise tag irrelevant, if you think about it.

There are several other teams in the AFC that are utilizing the tag, but don’t be surprised if only one or two NFC teams use it this year.

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