First Glance: The end of the season last year wasn’t quite as exciting as the Bengals would have liked, as they were handled with ease in back to back weeks by the New York Jets.

A lot of that had to do with injuries and the way the Jets were playing at the time, making it imperative that Cincinnati do what they could this off-season to bring in as much talent as possible to prevent the same thing from happening again this year.

While they didn’t do that in the most conventional way, the Bengals were able to sign enough playmakers that they should be in position to make a run once again this season.

2009 Record: 10-6 (1st AFC North)

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This is the second part of our series, looking at how each team stacks up headed into next week’s draft. In case you missed it, you can find part one covering the AFC East here.

As always, feel free to let us know what you think via the comment section.

Baltimore Ravens (9-7)

Analysis: The Ravens have done an excellent job over the years of identifying talent, regardless of position or need, and finding ways to get those players on their roster. This off-season has been no exception thus far, with Baltimore adding several quality playmakers on offense to help their young quarterback, Joe Flacco, next season. That said, they still have some work to do next week in the draft, especially on defense, where the majority of their stars are getting up there in age. Read the rest of this entry »

Free agent safety Roy Williams has agreed to re-sign with the Cincinnati Bengals, according to ESPN. The news was reported by Williams’ agent, Jordan Woy.

Williams missed much of last season after being put on injured reserve due to a forearm fracture.  In the four games he did start, Williams averaged seven tackles and had a pair of pass deflections.

Assuming he stays healthy, Williams is a lock to be the starting strong safety on a resurgent Bengals team that made the playoffs for just the second time in the last 19 seasons. Cincinnati was just 4-11-1 in the 2008 campaign.

On the same day that the Bengals hosted big-name receiver Terrell Owens for a visit with the front office, the team announced the signing of another free agent wide receiver: former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Antonio Bryant. 

The Cincinnati Inquirer has reported that the deal agreed upon between the two parties is worth approximately $28 million over 4 years. Bryant was bothered by knee injuries last season and was held to just 600 receiving yards, but boosted his status among the best wideouts in the league the previous year, in which he hauled in 83 passes for 1,248 yards and seven touchdowns.

While this does not indicate that the Bengals are definitively out of the mix for Owens, the move certainly makes it less likely a deal will form. Nevertheless, Bryant should be a nice complement to starting wide receiver Chad Ochocinco in the Bengals’ lineup next fall.

Get ready Bengals fans. The pairing of T.O. and Ochocinco may very well happen after all.

The NFL Network is reporting that he has a visit scheduled this week with the Bengals, according to a league source. The interest seems very mutual, with Terrell Owens and agent Drew Rosenhaus immediately showing they were amenable to disucssing a contract when the Bengals reached out to their camp.

Owens is just one of the top available receivers being looked at by the Bengals. Cincinnati is currently hosting fellow free agent Antonio Bryant (Buccaneers) for a visit.

It is not out of the realm of possibility that they lock up both players, as the Bengals lost their number two and number three receivers from last season, after they released Laveranues Coles, and with the tragic passing of Chris Henry.

There has also been sketchy reports that the Bengals are interested in signing restricted free agent Brandon Marshall (Broncos), although it has been widely speculated the Broncos fanned the flame as a ploy to drive the asking price for him up with the Seattle Seahawks. The signing of either of these two would likely quell that rumor.

One day removed from their workout of cornerback Pacman Jones, Cincinnati has apparantly reached an agreement with wide receiver Matt Jones, who previously played for the Jaguars before his dismissal from the team in March of 2009.

Jones possesses excellent speed and has displayed enough ability as a receiver to warrant a contract, but off the field issues have derailed his short career thus far, and this will likely be his last chance to prove his worth in the NFL.

Cincinnati has long been a haven for a multitude of players with a history of deviant behavior, and while the team has attempted to rid itself of the negative images associated with those individuals, they haven’t exactly gone out of their way to avoid signing them if their talent level is good enough for them to contribute.

So it comes as little surprise that the Bengals brought in former Titans and Cowboys cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones for a workout with the club on Thursday, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Jones has been out of the league since his dismissal from Dallas early on in 2009, but has seemingly stayed away from the confrontations with law enforcement officials that dogged his career from day one.

The Bengals do have a need for depth at the corner position, and while Jones struggled at times as a Cowboy, he clearly exhibited plenty of talent during his tenure in Tennessee, and head coach Marvin Lewis may decide to give him a chance to prove his value in the off-season and in training camp. No contract offer is yet forthcoming, but Jones is free to sign at any time and would likely receive clearance from the league when he does, given the amount of time he’s been away from football.

Six days removed from his tragic death, police in Charlotte, NC are still unable to provide any answers as to why Cincinnati wide receiver Chris Henry fell out of the truck driven by his fiancee, Loleini Tonga, or if she will be charged for her role in Henry’s demise.

Henry’s memorial service is slated for tomorrow in his home town of Belle Chasse, LA, and the entire Bengals team is expected to be attendance, honoring Henry for the good things he accomplished in his short life, and trying to forget the negative issues that may have ended it.

A witness to the accident recently came forward with several disturbing details surrounding the incident, that may shed some light into the mindset of Henry during that fateful night. Lee Hardy, a nearby resident, claims he saw a shirtless Henry in the back of the truck, screaming at Tonga through the rear window before she drove away. Hardy also stated that he heard Henry shout “If you take off, I’m going to jump off the truck and kill myself.”

While Henry was not known to have had any thoughts of suicide, the possibility still remains that he may have chosen to end his own life. That said, it is far more likely that the swaying of the vehicle at high speeds caused Henry to be thrown from the vehicle, landing on the pavement and causing severe damage to his body that he would eventually succumb to in the hospital.

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New details emerged this morning in the investigation surrounding the untimely demise of Cincinnati wide receiver Chris Henry. The cause of Henry’s death has been ruled as blunt force trauma to the head, which is what most expected the case to be, considering the manner in which the accident occurred.

Police involved in the investigation still have not revealed whether they will press any charges against Henry’s fiancee, Loleini Tonga, who was driving the truck when Henry was thrown from the back onto the pavement. Tonga stopped the vehicle as soon as she realized Henry was lying on the ground, and tried to help as best as she could.

Henry and Tonga had been arguing prior to the incident, and when Tonga left her family’s home, Henry apparently jumped into the back of the truck as it was pulling away, trying to get his fiancee to stop. Witnesses relayed that they saw Henry in the bed of the vehicle, pounding on the rear window before the accident happened.

The Bengals will travel as a team to Henry’s home town of Belle Chasse, Louisiana for services memorializing the fallen receiver, after their game on Sunday in San Diego. The funeral is set to take place on Tuesday.

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Thurs 9:35 am – Sad update to pass along… Henry has succumbed to his injuries and passed away early this morning, according to Fox Sports. He was 26 years old. All of us here at NFLNR extend our most sincere condolences to Henry’s family in this time of sorrow. Rest in peace.

Wed 6:45 pm – According to Fox Sports, Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry is close to losing his life after being thrown from the back of a truck driven by his fiancee near her family’s home in Charlotte, NC. His specific injuries have not yet been released, but the latest news has Henry on life support, and a source has been quoted as saying the situation is “dire.”

Henry is no stranger to trouble, having been suspended multiple time for altercations with the authorities during his tenure with Cincinnati. That said, he has been able to stay away from the off the field distractions this year and was quietly having a good season statistically before going down with a season ending injury. Prior to being placed on the injured reserve list, Henry accumulated 12 receptions for 236 yards and two touchdowns.

Obviously, this story is breaking as we speak, so we’ll be updating it as more information becomes available. For now, we offer up our prayers and condolences to Henry and his family.

After he was unceremoniously dumped by the 2-7 Chiefs several weeks ago, RB Larry Johnson may have found a new home in Cincinnati. As a lifelong fan of KC, all I can say to Bengals fans is good luck.

All season long, the Bengals have done their best to show the rest of the league that they’ve put their criminal ways behind them and moved forward into a new era of unselfish and bad attitude free football. They’ve beaten all comers in their division, thanks in part to their ability to play as a team, which makes this move to get LJ into the fold a perplexing one.

I understand the motivation from the depth standpoint, especially after watching RB Cedric Benson go down with a hip injury that could cost him his agility and speed down the stretch. But in terms of the direction Cincinnati has taken this season, a deal with Johnson makes no sense whatsoever. The Bengals need a team player, not a me first prima donna, which is exactly what got LJ into trouble in the first place.

LJ’s inability to carry the rock effectively certainly played a part in his dismissal from the Chiefs, but the underlying reason behind the departure was his attitude and off the field behavior. From multiple assault charges to gay slurs directed at fans and more, Johnson had become a player that every fan hated. He repeatedly displayed a complete unwillingness to do his part to help the team to victory, and while I can’t say he’ll be the same player in Cincinnati, odds are that he won’t be a model citizen once he’s surrounded by a crew that set the standard for miscreant behavior over the past few years.

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Game Recap: Cincinnati 45 – Chicago 10

There are few things that make an NFL player happier than playing a pivotal role in crushing a team that let them go, and Bengals RB Cedric Benson did just that earlier today in Cincinnati’s demolition of the Bears.

Benson dominated his old team throughout the entirety of Sunday’s affair, racking up a career high 189 yards on the ground along with a touchdown, keying the Bengals’ surprising charge and moving Cincinnati to 5-2 overall. QB Carson Palmer helped out a bit as well, tossing five touchdown passes against a Chicago defense that looked completely lost from the opening coin flip.

WR Chad Ochocinco chipped in as well, catching 10 passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns. As usual, he didn’t shy away from making his opinion known after the game was over:

“The offensive line played unbelievable. For Ced to run the way he did today and for us to be able to throw, we could have done what we wanted to do.”   – Cincinnati WR Chad Ochocinco

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