On Monday, the team tagged kicker Shayne Graham for the 2009 season. Graham will be paid $2.483 million, the average salary of the top five kickers in the NFL from the previous season to remain in a Bengal uniform.
"Shayne has consistently performed at a high level for us, and we expect that same performance in 2009 and hopefully beyond," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said in a statement. "We'll continue to speak with Shayne and his representatives about signing a longer-term deal."
Graham ranks fourth all-time in NFL field-goal accuracy at 85.6 in nine seasons. He would be allowed to negotiate with other teams, but that club would face the unlikely scenario of giving up first-round draft choices in 2009 and 2010.
AFC North
ESPN.com's James Walker writes about all things AFC North in his division blog.
•Blog network: NFL Nation
It was possible that the Bengals could tag pending free agent T.J. Houshmandzadeh. But the former Pro Bowl receiver would have cost just under $10 million to keep for one season, so Cincinnati likely will let Houshmandzadeh test free agency next week.
"We will also continue to talk with several of our other pending free agents in an ongoing attempt to re-sign them," Lewis said. "Some will want to test their value in the market, and we of course will look at the market for possible new players.
"But as I've said before, the best value for all sides tends to be when a team re-signs its own key free agents, and we will make every attempt to re-sign the players we consider most important for 2009."
Barcelona Are The Perfect Team For Me - Dani Alves
Patriots place franchise tag on QB Cassel
Valencia Players Will Keep Their Focus Despite Wage Troubles - Unai Emery
