Bengals select Chanticleers WR in second round. 

Jerome Simpson was nowhere near a television when the Bengals selected him in the second round of the NFL Draft.  He actually was returning from dinner and a flea market excursion with his family when he got a call Saturday evening. It was Marvin Lewis, telling him he'd been chosen 46th overall.

Simpson's family promptly pulled over on Highway 29, about 15 minutes from his Reidsville, N.C. home.   "Me and my family, we were out there on the side of the highway, jumping up and down and crying," Simpson said.  His excitement was still brimming when he spoke to the media after the announcement was made.

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.

How serious are the Cincinnati Bengals about not giving in to Chad Johnson's trade demands? Serious enough to swat away an offer from the Washington Redskins that could have netted the Bengals two first-round draft picks, team and league sources told ESPN.com.

The Redskins offered its first-round pick, No. 21 overall, and a conditional third-rounder in 2009 that could escalate to a first rounder if Johnson and the Redskins hit certain performance levels, the sources said.

It was not the first time the Redskins approached the Bengals about a deal, but it was the first significant proposal. The Bengals have not only rejected the Redskins, but two other NFC East suitors — the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles — have been informed that there has been no change in the team's position that Johnson will not be traded.

Source: espn.com

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