Bengals To Host Josh Allen
- Kentucky edge rusher Josh Allen is a busy man. In addition to planned visits with the 49ers, Jets, Raiders, Giants and Lions, Allen will also meet with the Bengals, Buccaneers, Jaguars, and Bills, tweets Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. Allen spent four years with the Wildcats, totaling 31.5 sacks in the process (17 of which came during his senior season). Viewed as the 2019 draft’s second-best pass rusher behind Ohio State’s Nick Bosa, Allen has been popularly mocked to New York at No. 3 and Oakland at No. 4.
DE Jaylon Ferguson To Meet With 22 Teams
Louisiana Tech-produced edge prospect Jaylon Ferguson will have one of the busiest Aprils on tap for any NFL hopeful in memory. He is set to meet with 22 teams this month, according to Jenna Laine of ESPN.com. The Bengals and Buccaneers are two of the teams who have requested summits. Those visits will occur this week, per Laine. Ferguson set the Division I-FBS sack record with 47 in his four-year run with the Bulldogs, accumulating 67.5 tackles for loss in the process. But a simple battery conviction, stemming from a fight at a McDonald’s during his freshman year, resulted in a partial ban from the Combine. Teams are looking to examine Ferguson more thoroughly.
- Another possible top-10 defensive line pick, Rashan Gary spent time in Jacksonville on Tuesday, per Pelissero (on Twitter). The Jaguars visit represents one of many for the Michigan-developed defensive lineman. He was already mentioned as a 49ers, Raiders and Bengals top-30 visit. Gary finished his Wolverines career with just 9.5 sacks, but the 6-foot-4 defender carries elite measureables — including a 4.58 40-yard dash — that have him projected as one of the top players available.
Bengals Host LB Devin Bush
Two teams who will be visiting with Devin White soon are also set to have this draft’s other high-profile Devin on their pre-draft itineraries. The Bengals met with Devin Bush on Monday, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets, adding the Buccaneers are next up on the Michigan-produced linebacker’s schedule. White is expected to go off draft boards a bit sooner, but Bush is viewed as a solid first-round pick as well. Bush finished out the 2018 season with 66 tackles, including 8.5 for a loss, and 4.5 sacks. In 2017, the versatile linebacker posted 95 tackles, 10 for loss, and 5.5 sacks. He is the son of former Falcons, Rams and Browns safety Devin Bush Sr., a 1995 first-round pick who played in back-to-back Super Bowls in the late 1990s. The Bucs hold the No. 5 pick, while the Bengals’ first pick comes at No. 11.
Bengals To Meet With Jordan Mills
Tackle Jordan Mills will meet with the Bengals on Monday and Tuesday, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Mills visited the Texans earlier this month, but outside of that, it has been a quiet offseason for the veteran. 
Mills, 28, started in every possible game for the Bills over the last three seasons. However, the advanced metrics have never been fond of his work. In 2018, he ranked as the No. 70 tackle in the NFL out of 80 qualified players, according to Pro Football Focus.
The Bengals’ depth chart at tackle is looking thin with Cordy Glenn, Bobby Hart, and Kent Perkins as the only outside blockers under contract. The club is also expected to fortify the position in the draft given Hart’s struggles at right tackle.
Bengals To Host LB Devin White
One of the top defenders available in a defense-heavy prospect pool, Devin White has begun to set up pre-draft visits. The Giants, Bengals and Buccaneers will host the LSU-developed linebacker, Amie Just of NOLA.com notes. All three teams pick in the top 11, and White has been often mocked to be off the board in between the Bucs’ No. 5 pick and the Bengals’ No. 11 choice. Although the Giants could use a young inside linebacker alongside Alec Ogletree, they have been linked to pass rushers at No. 6 — if they don’t, in fact, select their next quarterback then. The Bengals have a need on their defensive second level, which now lacks Vontaze Burfict. Tampa Bay lost Kwon Alexander but still has Lavonte David. Kendell Beckwith, White’s college teammate, missed all of last season.
Bengals Open To A.J. Green Extension?
The Bengals sound open to an extension for wide receiver A.J. Green, as Fletcher Page of The Enquirer writes. However, that’s not the case for quarterback Andy Dalton. 
“Oh, I think he’s a proven commodity, isn’t he?,” Bengals owner Mike Brown said. “The price range for him will be something we can figure out, it will come together. It’s true with anyone, if they suddenly get an injury..it reduces them. Well that changes the equation, but I never plan on that happening. I like to think that won’t happen. If A.J. is healthy, he’s as good a receiver as anybody in the league.”
Health, of course, was an issue for Green last year. The perennial Pro Bowler saw his season end in early December, marking the second time in three years that his season ended on IR. Still, Green finished out with 46 catches for 694 yards and six touchdowns in nine games, numbers that put him on pace for his usually strong output across a 16-game season.
Green has one year left on the four-year, $60MM extension he inked with the Bengals in 2015. Since then, he’s watched many other receivers leapfrog him in salary. When it comes to yearly salary, seven WRs rank ahead of Green: Odell Beckham Jr., Antonio Brown, Mike Evans, DeAndre Hopkins, Brandin Cooks, Sammy Watkins, and Jarvis Landry all earn more than Green’s $15MM/year average.
Meanwhile, a new deal for Dalton sounds unlikely to happen anytime soon.
“I think it’s a good year for (Dalton) to show like he can, like we think he will. After he re-establishes himself we would want to get together with him and see if we can extend it,” Brown said when asked about Dalton, who has two years to go on his deal. “I think Andy is a good player and that he will rebound off last year. He was hurt. We lost so many other pieces. It fell apart, but if he’s healthy and we stay healthy enough, I have confidence in him.“
Contract Details: Dennard, 49ers, Fins, Jets
Here are the latest contract details from around the league:
- Darqueze Dennard, CB (Bengals): One year, $5MM, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
- Chris Reed, OL (Dolphins): Two years, $2.975MM. $500K guaranteed. $1MM base salary in 2019. 2020 salary ($1.38MM) is a team option, Cameron Wolfe of ESPN.com tweets.
- David Mayo, LB (49ers): Two years, $2.5MM. $1.1MM fully guaranteed. Cap charges of $1.25MM in each season, Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com notes (Twitter links).
- Brandon Copeland, DL (Jets): One year, $1.25MM. Deal carries a max value of $3MM, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News tweets.
Bengals Re-Sign Darqueze Dennard
The Bengals are re-signing cornerback Darqueze Dennard, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter). The Chiefs and a mystery club were also in the mix for him, but the former first-round pick ultimately re-upped with Cincinnati. He’ll return on a one-year deal, according to an announcement from the team.
Dennard’s market was slow to develop despite other slot corners receiving lucrative deals around the NFL. His visit to Kansas City late last week marked his first known outside interest of the offseason . Cincinnati was initially willing to re-sign Dennard at around $8.5MM annually, so it will be interesting to see whether the price went up or down.
The Bengals are often reticent to field young players during the early portions of their respective careers, and that was never more evident than in Dennard’s case, as the former Michigan State Spartan played fewer than 600 defensive snaps in his first three pro seasons.
Dennard became Cincinnati’s full-time slot corner in 2017, and saw action on roughly three-quarters of the Bengals’ snaps in each of the past two years. Football Outsiders ranked Dennard 29th among 85 qualifiers in yards allowed per pass attempt in 2018 but just 49th in success rate, while Pro Football Focus graded Dennard as the league’s No. 52 CB.
DE Michael Johnson Not Expected To Return To Bengals
The Bengals are not expected to bring back longtime defensive end Michael Johnson, the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Paul Dehner Jr. writes. 
Before the start of the 2018 season, the Bengals released the veteran defensive end only to bring him back on a one-year contract the next day. Johnson filled a big role on the Cincinnati defensive line, soaking up 41 percent of the team’s defensive snaps and starting all 15 games he played in. With Carlos Dunlap, and the emergence of Sam Hubbard, Carl Lawson and Jordan Willis, Johnson was deemed as expendable.
A third-round pick in 2009, Johnson began his career with the Bengals and developed into a solid starter in a five-year run with the team that included an 11.5-sack season in 2012. He moved to Tampa Bay following the 2013 season but spent just one season with the Buccaneers before returning to the Bengals. Since rejoining the team in 2015, Johnson has started 61 of a possible 64 games.
In his 10th season, Johnson was graded as the No. 89 edge defender by Pro Football Focus, a middle-of-the-road mark. His veteran presence and proven production could make him an attractive piece for a team needing a complementary 4-3 defensive end. In 2018, Johnson registered 33 tackles and just a half-sack in 15 games. He did record an interception and his first career touchdown in Week 5 vs. the Dolphins.
Bengals To Sign Kerry Wynn
Kerry Wynn is signing a one-year deal with the Bengals, according to Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The Giants hoped to keep the defensive lineman, but he’ll ply his craft in Cincinnati instead. 
Wynn spent five years with the Giants and totaled 4.5 sacks in that span. He’s not a household name, but he has the ability to play multiple spots in the defensive line and offers strong special teams help. After tying for second on the Giants with eight special teams stops in ’18, he figures to be an asset for the Bengals in the third facet of the game.
Meanwhile, the Giants will have to look elsewhere for defensive line help after losing out on Wynn and whiffing on Vinny Curry, who returned to the Eagles on Thursday.