Passing on deal meant no defensive tackle

On the first day of veteran free agency, the Bengals were willing to trade their third- and fifth-round draft picks to Detroit for defensive tackle Shaun Rogers.  That third-round pick would have been the 77th overall.  On Saturday, logic says, the Bengals could have packaged that same No. 77 pick with their ninth choice to trade with New England and get in position to take a defensive tackle.

Team passes on big-school receivers to grab productive, physical, athletic wideout from Coastal Carolina.

Wide receivers DeSean Jackson, Limas Sweed, Malcolm Kelly and Mario Manningham were still on the draft board.  But the Bengals spurned those big-school studs and grabbed an unknown — Coastal Carolina's Jerome Simpson — in the second round of the NFL draft, No. 46 overall.  Perhaps a hidden gem from the Big South Conference, the 6-foot-2, 193-pounder caught 157 passes for 2,636 yards (a 16.8-yard average) and 43 touchdowns in 44 career games.  Simpson replaces Chris Henry, who was waived on April 3.

When Southern Cal linebacker Keith Rivers slipped on a Cincinnati Bengals cap just after 4 p.m. Saturday, April 26, it was a perfect match of team need and player talent. 

Celebrating with his family in a suite at the Orlando Marriott in Lake Mary, Fla., Rivers was overcome with emotion.  "I'm so happy," he said, "I'm at the point where I don't know what to do — jump around or cry. I'm definitely ready to come in, help the team out and do everything possible to bring this defense up and get us to the playoffs."

Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis didn't mention any names, but he sure dropped a lot of hints about the club's draft plans this weekend.  With the ninth overall pick Saturday, April 26, he wants an impact player.  The signs point toward defense — tackle Sedrick Ellis, end Derrick Harvey or middle linebacker Keith Rivers.  "I'm hoping that when we step up to pick at nine, the value and the match are there," Lewis said.

The Bengals are calling Chad Johnson's bluff.

Tired of the receiver's posturing for a trade, coach Marvin Lewis said Tuesday that Johnson should keep his word and sit out the season — the strongest comment yet from an organization that is reluctant to let him go.

Lewis also said that linebacker David Pollack is leaning toward retirement. The former first-round draft pick broke a bone in his neck while making a tackle during the 2006 season and went through months of difficult healing and rehabilitation.

Pollack's decision isn't a surprise. He has said all along that he doubted he would return if there was a chance he could injure his neck again.

Lewis was pointed in his comments about Johnson. The Pro Bowl receiver has been disgruntled since the middle of last season, when his look-at-me antics came under criticism.