Bengals To Re-Sign P Kevin Huber
Kevin Huber has played football in just one city since high school, and the Bengals saw to it that wasn’t going to chance despite another team expressing interest in their longtime punter.
Cincinnati agreed to a three-year deal to keep Huber on Wednesday, Jim Owczarski of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. The Bears had shown interest in prying Huber away, with Owczarski calling it a “strong push” to lure the specialist to the Windy City, but he will stay in his home town.
A 2014 Pro Bowler, Huber has been the Bengals’ punter since the 2009 season. The 32-year-old former Cincinnati Bearcat has been part of all six Bengals playoff appearances in that span.
Bills Trade Cordy Glenn To Bengals
The Bengals are trading for Bills left tackle Cordy Glenn, according to Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The deal will see the Bills move up in the first round, according to Peter Schrager of NFL.com (on Twitter).
The Bills will acquire the No. 12 pick in the draft, while the Bengals will go down to No. 21 overall. The two teams will also swap fifth- and sixth-round picks. Precisely, the Bills will trade picks 21 and 158 for picks 12 and 187, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports tweets.
Glenn was a durable player for the Bills prior to signing a massive extension with the Bills in 2016. Since then, he has been banged up and not quite worth the money for Buffalo. With a lofty $14.45MM cap number in 2018 and a $6.5MM roster bonus on the horizon, the Bills have decided to move on.
Glenn drew interest from teams at last year’s trade deadline, including the Seahawks, so the Bills knew there was at least some market for him, despite his health concerns and hefty contract. Glenn has three years and roughly $30MM remaining on his contract.
Glenn, 29 in September, appeared in just six games (275 snaps) for Buffalo last season before being placed on IR. He also missed five games of action in 2016. Before that, Glenn played a full 16-game slate in three consecutive seasons.
From 2013-2016, Glenn graded out as roughly a top-20 tackle, according to the advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus. He did not fare nearly as well in his limited and injury-plagued sample last season.
The Bengals, who saw longtime left tackle Andrew Whitworth defect to the Rams in free agency last March, badly needed to upgrade their offensive line. They have done just that by acquiring Glenn. If healthy, Glenn easily profiles as an above-average starter at left tackle. Given his injury history, the Bengals will want to shore up the bench in the even that he misses time.
The Bills, meanwhile, have greatly improved their standing in the draft. They also hold the No. 22 overall selection, thanks to last year’s Patrick Mahomes trade, and five of the draft’s first 65 choices. Buffalo now figures to let Dion Dawkins, who filled in for Glenn last season when he was ailing, move into the role of its full-time left tackle.
Considering their stock of early-round picks, you can only wonder if the Bills are preparing to make a run at one of the top quarterbacks in the draft. Buffalo may be emulating the strategy the Eagles took several years ago to select Carson Wentz, when Philly started with No. 13, moved up to No. 8, and ultimately traded for the second-overall pick. Of course, the Bills could also be eyeing free agent quarterbacks, as reports from earlier today indicated that they had interest in former Vikings signal-callers Sam Bradford and Case Keenum.
[RELATED: Bengals Depth Chart]
Bears Interested In P Kevin Huber
We have punter news. The Bears have spoken to Bengals free agent Kevin Huber, a source tells Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter).
The Bears’ own punter, Pat O’Donnell, is a pending free agent. It’s unclear whether O’Donnell is still in their plans, or if they are just safeguarding themselves in the event of O’Donnell’s departure.
Huber has been the Bengals’ punter ever since entering the league in 2009. In 2014, he earned his first and only Pro Bowl selection. Last year, he set a new career watermark with 46.6 yards per boot.
Extra Points: Broncos, Cousins, Coleman
Despite the Broncos being interested in Kirk Cousins throughout the offseason, they moved on Case Keenum and reached an agreement before the Cousins domino fell. The Broncos, who do not have as much cap space as their top Cousins competitors do, spoke with the quarterback’s representation on Monday but did not submit an official offer, James Palmer of NFL.com reports (on Twitter). The team’s Keenum agreement being at least $18MM represented a significant discount from Cousins’ near-$30MM-AAV deal — one expected to be with the Vikings. Despite Cousins having proven more than Keenum, Broncos brass moved quickly on this agreement and was on the same page about the belated breakout passer. Palmer reports that went a long way toward completing this deal. Gary Kubiak is currently serving as a top Broncos front office bastion. Kubiak initially brought Keenum into the NFL as a UDFA while serving as Texans HC.
Here’s more from Denver and elsewhere around the league on Day 2 of pre-free agency.
- Now that the Broncos lost one of the UFAs they were trying to keep, when Corey Nelson agreed to terms with the Eagles, Denver is trying to retain a higher-profile linebacker. The Broncos are expected to try and ramp up their efforts to retain Todd Davis before he hits free agency on Wednesday, Mike Klis of 9News reports (on Twitter). This would continue a change of pace for the John Elway-era Broncos. Previous offseasons saw off-ball ‘backers Wesley Woodyard, Nate Irving and Danny Trevathan depart. But in 2016, Elway authorized an $8MM-per-year deal for Brandon Marshall. Davis almost certainly won’t cost that much, profiling as more of a two-down thumper than sideline-to-sideline rover who can reliably operate in coverage, but he won’t come cheap since he’s been a two-year starter on one of the league’s top defenses.
- Kurt Coleman took two visits before agreeing to join the Saints, meeting with the Giants and Bengals, Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com tweets. Coleman has bounced around the league, with his most recent stop being his most notable since the Panthers deployed him as a three-year starter — including in Super Bowl 50 — and signed him to an extension in 2016. Despite having played for three teams and having started 74 games, Coleman won’t turn 30 until July. The Giants are in need of a safety to complement Landon Collins. The Bengals, though, don’t have as obvious a need on their back line.
Bengals To Decline Adam Jones’ Option
The Bengals have informed cornerback Adam Jones that they won’t be picking up his option, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com (on Twitter). However, they would like him back at a cheaper rate to compete as a nickel corner and kick returner. 
This was the expected move, as the Bengals are saving $6MM by declining the veteran’s option. Jones was an effective punt returner last year, averaging 21.8 yards per attempt. He started in all nine of his games at cornerback in an injury-shorted season, but played only 299 snaps. The advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus rated his season as his worst ever, by a wide margin. He fared better in the previous two seasons, when he ranked as PFF’s No. 37 CB in 2016 and their No. 15 CB in 2015.
Jones will turn 35 in September, but he has said that he wants to continue playing football.
Charges Against Bengals’ Tyler Boyd Dropped
Drug charges against Bengals wide receiver Tyler Boyd have been dismissed, as ESPN.com’s Katherine Terrell writes. Boyd was facing charges of possessing a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia after a car crash in July, but he’ll no longer have to worry about legal consequences stemming from the incident. 
Boyd’s wrecked car was found by police after 3 a.m. on a July day with several bottles of alcohol and multiple vape pens that tested positive for THC. However, Boyd said that a friend of his was driving the car and that person later admitted to being behind the wheel.
Had he been convicted in this case, Boyd would have been likely to face league discipline given that he was charged with a DUI in college. Although the league cannot punish players retroactively for pre-NFL incidents, his history would have been a factor. The league can still fine or suspend players for cases that do not result in convictions, but that seems less likely given the circumstances in this instance.
Boyd, 24 in November, missed games due to injury in 2017 and was not targeted all that much when he was on the field. He became more involved in the offense late in the season, however, with ten catches for 130 yards and one touchdown in his final two games.
Bengals Want To Re-Sign DE Chris Smith
Although the Bengals hope to re-sign him, free agent defensive end Chris Smith is expected to garner “a lot” of interest on the open market, according to Jim Owczarski of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link).
Cincinnati picked up Smith from the Jaguars last April in exchange for a seventh-round pick, and the now-26-year-old flashed during the preseason by generating two sacks. Once the regular season hit, though, Smith only played on roughly a third of the Bengals’ defensive snaps, racking up three sacks and grading as the league’s No. 81 edge defender among 106 qualifiers during that time, per Pro Football Focus.
While the Bengals would apparently be open to a new deal with Smith, they also have a glut of defensive ends on their roster. Veterans Carlos Dunlap and Michael Johnson will return as starters, while 2017 rookies Jordan Willis and Carl Lawson — the latter of whom was outstanding as an edge rusher during his rookie campaign — will be in reserve.
If Smith does reach free agency, he’ll join a lackluster group of edge defenders that includes Julius Peppers, William Hayes, Trent Murphy, and Pernell McPhee. PFR didn’t rank Smith among the top-15 pass rushers on the open market, but he would fall into the 16-20 range if our list were extended.
Bengals To Sign DT Chris Baker
The Bengals have signed former Bucs defensive tackle Chris Baker to a one-year deal worth a little more than $3MM, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Baker was released in February, so he did not have to wait until March 14 to sign with a club. 
Baker, 31 in October, disappointed in Tampa Bay after signing a three-year, $15.75MM deal free agent deal. With two years to go, the Bucs dropped him in order to save $4.875MM against the cap.
Because Baker is not a typical free agent, he will not count against the Bengals’ compensatory draft pick formula. He could also be a solid fill-in for Pat Sims, who is headed towards free agency.
Heading into Wednesday, PFR had Baker ranked as the No. 11 interior defensive lineman available in free agency.
Bengals Meet With DL Chris Baker
The Bengals hosted free agent defensive lineman Chris Baker for a visit this week, according to Katherine Terrell of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The visit was first reported by Chick Hernandez of NBC Sports Washington (Twitter link). 
Baker, 31 in October, inked a three-year, $15.75MM deal with the Buccaneers last offseason. Last month, they terminated the deal in order to save $4.875MM against the cap.
Baker did not perform up to the Bucs’ expectations as he had just half a sack in 2017 and grading as just the No. 96 defensive tackle among 122 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus. The Bengals are wondering if Baker can get back to his 2016 play, a year in which he ranked 18th on PFF’s list of interior defenders. Looking at the positives, Baker had 10.5 sacks between 2015 and 2016 and even though he struggled last year, he started 16 games for the first time in his career.
Baker currently ranks as our No. 11 ranked interior defender, ahead of Kyle Williams, Dominique Easley, Haloti Ngata, and Alan Branch.
Latest On Tyler Eifert
Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert has missed 41 of 80 potential regular season games due to concussions, stingers, an elbow injury, a torn labrum, ankle surgery, disc repairs, and a knee issue. As he approaches free agency, he tells Jim Owczarski of the Cincinnati Enquirer that “everything is fixed.” Teams, of course, will be taking a thorough medical look at Eifert before extending him any offers. The 27-year-old Eifert is arguably the most talented free agent tight end available, but his injury history will put a ceiling on his market. PFR’s Zach Links recently ranked Eifert as the third-best available tight end, behind Trey Burton and Jimmy Graham.