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Free Agency Update: Bengals Sign Minter, and More

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The Cincinnati Bengals made a big free agency move yesterday with the signing of LB Kevin Minter from Arizona.

Minter signed a 1-year deal worth $4.5 million. His arrival to the Bengals will take some of the sting out of losing Karlos Dansby to the Cardinals on his own 1-year deal and should help upgrade the LB position.

The 26-year-old Minter was taken in the 2nd round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He has played in Arizona for the past four years and started every game over the past two seasons. He played over 93% of the team’s defensive snaps in 2016, so he’s durable. During the past two seasons he has logged 175 tackles and four sacks (a career-high 3.5 last season).

Other Bengal free agency news last week

  • The Cincinnati Bengals inked offensive tackle Andre Smith to a 1-year contract on Tuesday. Does the name sound familiar? It should. Smith was drafted by the Bengals out of Alabama in the first round in 2009 and will be heading into his 9th season. He spent last year with the Minnesota Vikings but only started four games before injuring a tricep. Soon after that, he was placed on injured reserve and didn’t play for the rest of the season.
  • Guard/center TJ Johnson agreed to a 2-year deal on Friday. Johnson is a third-year man out of South Carolina and was chosen in the 7th round of the 2015 draft.
  • Finally, two players who are no longer on the Bengals’ roster include wide receiver James Wright (released) and running back Rex Burkhead (signed with the New England Patriots). Since losing Burkhead leaves the team thin at that position look for them to take advantage of a talent-rich draft that includes names like Florida State’s Dalvin Cook, LSU’s Leonard Fournette, Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey, and Tennessee’s Alvin Kamara.

Bengals Free Agency News – Winston Back In The Nati, Peko to Denver

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Well after a tough first day of Free Agency this past Thursday most Bengals fans are slowly stepping back from the ledge…slowly, very slowly. It seemed like the 2017 season was already over in the eyes of most Bengals fans after losing both OT Andrew Whitworth (to the Rams) and G Kevin Zeitler (to the Browns) in the same day.

On Friday the Bengals added a solid player and much needed depth to the offensive line by re-signing veteran OT Eric Winston to 1 year deal. Winston is the president of the NFL Players Association and started 2 games for the Bengals last season, he also has had experience playing Guard in the past so he also adds value in that way.

Long time DT Domata Peko is also headed out of Cincy as he signed a 2 year deal with the Denver Broncos on Saturday. Peko was an excellent teammate and a great guy in the community, it will be a bit weird seeing his long lion-like hair in another teams uniform. It looked like Peko had lost a bit of a step the past few seasons and the Bengals have good young depth coming up at defensive tackle with guys like Marcus Hardison, Andrew Billings and DeShawn Williams in addition to veterans Pat Sims and Brandon Thompson.

Bengals Free Agency News – Dre In, Whit and Zeit Out

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Well – good news and bad news in free agency so far.

Bad news first – the Cincinnati Bengals lost their two best offensive lineman to other teams on Thursday. Andrew Whitworth inked a 3-year, $36 million deal with the LA Rams.

Kevin Zeitler went even bigger (with a smaller team). KZ will spend the next 5 years with the Cleveland Browns, and get 60 million bucks for it. It’s kinda sad that the Bengals didn’t even make an offer for him. But it’s also not surprising – the Cincy brass traditionally doesn’t place a lot of value on offensive guards.

Given this departure of talent, it’s a good thing that quarterback Andy Dalton is under contract. Otherwise, he might blow town now that the two best players are gone from a line that allowed 41 sacks last season.

So, will the Bengals try to snag some bodies from the free agency field to replace the Whitworth-Zeitler protection agency? Or will they look to the draft to get some big uglies? Some names to remember include Minnesota Vikings (and former Bengal) OT Andre Smith, LSU  C/G Ethan Pocic, and Western Kentucky’s OT/G Forrest Lamp. Keep an eye out for them.

Now, The Good News

Dre Kirkpatrick signed a 5-year, $52.5 million contract Thursday. His presence is almost as big a gain to the secondary as Zeitler and Whitworth are a loss to the O-line. He provides stability to the defensive backfield and was a big reason why the Cincinnati Bengals tied for fourth in the NFL last year with 17 interceptions. Many wonder how or if this move will impact the future of CB Adam Jones, who has had off-the-field trouble.


Overall, this didn’t feel like a good day for Cincinnati. Losing Whitworth and Zeitel hurts no matter who the team signs to replace them. Getting Kirkpatrick is good and there are still plenty of quality players out there to be signed or drafted. But it still feels like a step back. And for a team that entered 2016 with playoff expectations and finished 6-9-1, any step back can be bad. Real bad.

Will the Bengals have back-to-back losing seasons for the first time since 2007-08? Leave a comment and tell us what you think.

Bengals Bring Back Brandon LaFell

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The Cincinnati Bengals resigned wide receiver Brandon LaFell on Wednesday to a 2-year, $10 million deal. This is the first free agency move for the team. It keeps the 7-year veteran in Cincy, where he has carved out a niche as a complement to star wideout AJ Green.

LaFell caught 64 passes last year for 862 yards and 6 touchdowns despite a preseason thumb injury. Before coming to Cincinnati in 2016 on a 1-year deal, the 3rd-round pick out of LSU spent the previous two years with New England after four with Carolina. His best statistical season came in 2014, when he appeared in 16 games for the Patriots. That year, he caught 74 passes for 953 yards and 7 TDs.

He came on strong in the final three games last year. During that stretch, he caught 20 passes for 288 yards and a touchdown. It was too little too late, though, as the Bengals were already out of the playoff picture by then.

TJ Johnson Gets One-Year Tender Offer

On Tuesday Cincinnati also tendered offensive lineman TJ Johnson for one year for $1,797,000. Johnson, a restricted free agent, can negotiate with other teams, however, the Bengals can match any competing offer that Johnson signs. The team could also try to work out a longer-term deal with Johnson as well.

Johnson was drafted in 2013 out of South Carolina and appeared in all 16 games last year.


 

Bengals sign CB Bene’ Benwikere to 1-Year Deal

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The Cincinnati Bengals have beefed up their secondary by signing cornerback Bene’ Benwikere. The Bengals inked him to a 1-year deal worth $690,000 (the league minimum) on Wednesday.

The 25-year-old Bene’ Benwikere was drafted out of San Jose State by the Carolina Panthers in 2014. In 27 games, he compiled 102 total tackles, a sack, 4 forced turnovers and 3 fumble recoveries.

The 5th-rounder was cut after the October 2 game last year against the Atlanta Falcons. The reason? Julio Jones was so dominant (12 catches, 300 yards) that you’d think Carolina pulled one of the fans out of the nosebleed section to cover Jones.

Benwikere has fairly good size (5’11”, 195 pounds) and his presence helps with depth in the defensive backfield. That’s huge at this point since the crystal ball is cloudy on current Cincinnati DBs Dre Kirkpatrick, Adam Jones and Chykie Brown.