Phase one completed, comes phase two -- waiver wire acquisitions.

The Bengals picked up offensive guard, Frank Davis from the Detroit Lions and defensive tackle Orien Harris from the New Orleans Saints.

The Bengals terminated the contract of Michael Myers and placed Dan Santucci on Injured Reserve to make room.

From a Bengals press released (via Curnutte's blog):

-- Acquired G Frank Davis on waivers from Detroit. (Davis 6-3, 325; South Florida) is a third-year NFL player. He played in 11 games with three starts in 2006, after making the Lions roster as a college free agent. He was on the Reserve/Injured list last season, due to a knee injury suffered in preseason, but he came back this year to play in all four Lions preseason games, with two starts at LG.

-- Acquired DT Orien Harris on waivers from New Orleans. (Harris 6-3, 300; Miami-Fla.) played in all four Saints preseason games and led the team with 20 tackles, including a sack. He has two prior seasons in the NFL, but does not yet have an accrued year toward free agency, and is classified a first-year player. He entered the NFL in 2006 as a fourth-round draft choice of Pittsburgh and played in two games for Cleveland after being signed off the Steelers practice squad. Last season, he was on Buffalo’s practice squad before being signed to the Saints roster, where he was inactive for two games.

Along with Carl-Johan Bjork, the Bengals announced five players signed to the team's practice squad -- they're allowed a maximum of nine with Bjork's exemption.

Dan Howell, LB
James Johnson, RB
Nate Livings, Guard
Maurice Purify, WR
Mario Urrutia, WR

On the night of January 22, 1989, the Bengals lost to the San Francisco 49ers that left me cursing at the television, throwing pillows and the like, frustrated as hell. After that display, I was reprimanded by my mother after she witnessed her 10-year old son display a foul-mouthed hissyfit. When the pain dimmed a week later, I was able to sit on my rump again and permitted to watch television when spring invited the leaves to blossom.

This January will be the 20th anniversary of the Bengals last Super Bowl appearance. Soon afterwards, we'll see men and women legally allowed to purchase adult beverages at their local pub, knowing they were yet to be born when the Bengals went to their last Super Bowl; how's that for perspective?

The sad part is that you could apply the same frustration with both professional teams in Cincinnati. The only difference is that the Reds won in 1990 and have five world championships on their resume -- the Bengals have two appearances and no world championships; though we do have two conference titles and that should mean something. Still, that was such a long time ago that it seems like it never happened. I'm not talking playoffs, I'm talking championships.

The Reds are in no better shape than the Bengals right now. They're life-less, display no effort in a town that appreciates blue-collar work. With time of unsuccessful trends, fans of professional sports in Cincinnati, justifiably so, attack ownership for not making winning a priority. It forced Carl Lindner out of Reds majority ownership, and it's sealed a nasty opinion of the Bengals owner -- and everyone, I believe, is right to assume such things -- to such a point, that even winning a Super Bowl, won't reverse opinions of him.

Maybe some day, in the future, the Reds and Bengals will fight again for supremacy of what town this is. Is it a baseball town? Is it a football town? At this point, we just want it to be something worth appreciating.

Friday night marked the start of high school football -- in my opinion, the purest form of football today and a proud tradition in the Cincinnati area. Number one St. Xavier (ranked 18th in the nation) faced off against number two Colerain. The underdog Cardinals took an intentional safety with a second left on the clock to beat the Bombers, 13-8. Colerain started out of the gate quickly, taking a 13-0 lead in the first quarter, depending on the defense to win the remaining three quarters. Mason, my old kicking ground, plays Saturday afternoon (2:45 pm). Go Comets!

Tonight being a Saturday night, I'm not expecting much participation in the way of comments and all that. But that doesn't stop dorks like me. I'll be online tonight until, roughly, half time. Though that could change depending on the site's participation, as well as how the game is progressing.

Mark Curnutte is looking for the Bengals to pound the ball tonight, and control the clock -- mostly in response to having the team's top four wide receivers out. It appears he's right. "The wideouts are down, so we have to emphasize running the ball and running the ball effectively," Levi Jones said. "And the young guys at wide receiver are going to have to catch the ball when we need them to catch the ball."

Chris Perry is happy to finally run with a style that he's used to. "Everybody remembers me as a scat back. But I went to school at Michigan, and we run downhill. I just never got the opportunity to do that while I was here." Will Perry be happy being healthy for a full 16-game season? "I mean, not really. I want to have an impact." Good answer.

Mario Urrutia on hopefully playing tonight after not playing the first two exhibition games: "I'm just waiting my turn. When I get it, I'm going to make the most of it. All I can say is the best is yet to come." Another good answer.

Five questions with Shayne Graham.

James Walker responds to the question of the Jurassic Line on his AFC North, ESPN blog. "The Bengals have been discussing it, Kris. They also used it a tiny bit in the preseason. But until I see Marvin Lewis use it consistently, it's difficult to tell if this is a viable option for the Bengals in the regular season. Andrews has experience at guard and obviously he is a great right tackle when healthy. So the key is if Bobbie Williams can make the adjustment from guard to center." Walker could have just reference Paul Alexander confirming that Eric Ghiaciuc has a "firm grip" at center.

Furthermore, in a later question in the same piece, Walker says that Henry is fortunate to play at all this season after Henry was initially suspended for the season pending his latest day in court. I so disagree with this point. Charges being dropped means he wasn't convicted of anything. So why does Henry have to be suspended? Because some guy either fabricated a story, or the guy's lawyer was unable to present a case? It's just another example that Roger Goodell hands out sentences on his own perceptions... and mood of the day.

Adam Zimmer will be across the field as the Saints defensive assistant, likely watching his dad calling the defensive plays for the Cincinnati Bengals.

I wish I could read what JungleInsider writes. But I can't. I don't have $90 to pay for a year's subscription and I tend to like free -- which is something that Cincy Jungle will ALWAYS be.

BJ at BengalsZone wonders if Palmer will "have enough" and complain -- being signed through 2014, that's a real possibility for most players. But I just don't see it from Palmer.

Mike Greenberg actually has a fan web site.

Fake Teams (a fantasy sports site under the Sports Blog Nation umbrella), is toying with the idea of picking up Chris Perry as "a sneaky-good late choice."

Last night's Texans-Cowboys game displayed a too-real result of how violent football is. On kickoff, Texans receiver Harry Williams was falling down, missing a tackle, when he collided with another teammate fracturing his C3 vertebra. From a Bengals perspective, this was reminisce watching David Pollack being carted off the field against the Browns in the second week of the 2006 season. Like Pollack, Williams was able to regain basic motor functions afterwards. But this injury puts severe doubt on anyone's NFL career that suffers it.

There's another Bengals site in town.

Pending his approval, the Reds and White Sox agreed on a Ken Griffey Jr. trade.

Sedrick Ellis' contract is worth up to $49 million with $32-33 million in base salaries. However, Derrick Harvey isn't close, ESPN writes, quoting Jack Del Rio:

"He's falling behind, there's no question," Del Rio said, according to the newspaper. "It's unfortunate he's not here. There were some deals in front of us that were outrageous in my opinion. [That] makes it difficult to have him here. We have a belief in where we're gonna go and we still have a belief on where it's gonna go, and right now we're not in agreement. At some point, you lose so much that you don't become as valuable. We're not there yet, but it's time to get into camp."

Big Cat Country is concerned that a prolonged holdout may happen between the Jaguars and Derrick Harvey. That doesn't bode well if Rivers and his agent are still trying to figure out their number based on the slot ahead of them.

Ahmad Brooks likes the anonymity of being the strong-side outside linebacker as opposed to last season when he was the team's middle linebacker with high expectations. "Yeah, I feel pretty good not being asked so many questions."

James Walker sits down with Marvin White and asks five questions.

Five things to know about the Cincinnati Bengals.

“I’m a lot bigger than the rest of the receivers and I use that to the best of my ability." Mario Urrutia hoping to make a big impact.

T.J. Houshmandzadeh is "solid as hell".

Robert Geathers absence Wednesday night was unexplained and Chad Johnson "showed no signs of a limp".

Bobbie Williams is still getting work in as the team's backup center.

There's a lot (and I mean a lot) of glowing reviews over Rudi Johnson who spent this off-season rebuilding his leg strength and maintaining a diet to be leaner. "He ate all the stuff you'd hide in your napkin as a kid." Eric Lindsey writes that Rudi "looks bigger, stronger and just as fast."

Steelers' rookie wide receiver Limas Sneed had a set back in Wednesday's practice.

Browns' return man, Joshua Cribbs, has been lining up at quarterback in shotgun formation, rolling out and even passing.

Anyone that's seen or reported on Rudi Johnson, comes to the same conclusion: Rudi is changed, and much, much better. Some are calling him the "Auburn Rudi". No matter how you spin it, everyone that's talked about his off-season goal to bulk up, were true. The irony here is that he's quicker and stronger than he was last year, or the year before that. James Walker writes that "Johnson is consistently running well in practice."

Virtual Bird's Eye of Paul Brown Stadium.

Pete Carroll and Conquest Chronicles are loving the Carson Palmer rant -- which, still to this day, I think was harmless and actually muse at my fellow Buckeyes fans that took it to so much heart.

Glenn Holt (Kentucky) and Mario Urrutia (Louisville) are old rivals in college, now teammates and roomies during camp. “I was like, ‘Glenn, oh gosh.' We're going to go at it every day.” Urrutia said.

James Walker calls Marcus Maxwell the "Bengals' secret weapon".

With Antwan Odom out for an unknown amount of time, guys like Frostee Rucker have a chance to impress coaches with additional snaps. With Rucker, the Bengals have Angelo Craig, Jonathan Fanene, Eric Henderson competing for the backup spots. We figure that Odom will regain his starting job when he recovers.

Daniel Coats impressed with his hitting during Oklahoma drills (he "hammered" Dhani Jones) while Reggie Kelly "flung" Rashad Jeanty to the ground.

MVN's Bengals network site writes their five position battles. I disagree about John Thornton vs. Pat Sims (not that it matters; I'm sure rotationally speaking, both will have a good number of snaps). I also disagree with Daniel Coats vs. Jeremi Johnson. Hell, I don't see Johnson making the squad, and that's not because of Coats. It's because he's too fat and Lewis is tired of throwing the team's fullback on the sidelines to drop his weight.

"I have a special barber back home (Wyalusing, Pa.)," Kilmer said. "He ripped it off. It's cool. I figure we're getting back in the swing of things. It's time to get a new 'do. I feel lighter, a little more aerodynamic."
- Ethan Kilmer on his transition from safety to cornerback.

"If I have to be the leader, then I'll be the leader." Mike Zimmer on developing camaraderie and togetherness with the defense.

T.J. Houshmandzadeh is really, really focused at training camp.

Andrews was asked about his brother, Shawn Andrews, absence from Eagles training camp. "He has a few personal things he has to deal with and he's going to get them taken care of. I really can't elaborate."

"I'm frustrated right now because they won't let me practice," Chad Johnson says.

The Steelers lost their punter for the year, but showing signs of having a good receiving corps this season.

Terrell Suggs is still out of Ravens camp because he hasn't signed his tender yet.

Shaun Rodgers has been beating Eric Steinbach during one-on-one drills.

The following is a list of Bengals draft picks signed. Most of this is through unconfirmed channels with sources listed below the chart. Since the Bengals are pretty selective releasing their financial data, we're left with using unreliable and confirmed sources. In other words, take this as very unofficial. If you see errors, please email me or quote your source in the comments.

* In millions.
** Means they are listed with the base salary without bonuses figured in, or unconfirmed from unofficial sources, or different sources quoting different numbers.

The following are the sources for the contract details, or links to my posts that link to the contract details (usually if they're multiple links).

UPDATE: Curnutte provdes the signing bonuses for Sims, Collins, Shirley, Sherry, Craig and Urrutia. [Curnutte's blog]
Pat Sims signs four-year deal worth $2.473 million and $768,000 signing bonus [Big C Rumor Mill]
Anthony Collins signs four-year deal worth $2.175 million and $470,500 signing bonus [Big C Rumor Mill]
Jason Shirley signs four-year minimum deal with $158,000 signing bonus. [RealTime Fantasy Sports] The signing bonus is unconfirmed. (base salary acquired at NFL PA)
Corey Lynch -- terms undisclosed.
Matt Sherry signs four-year deal worth $1.775 million with $40,000 signing bonus [Cincy Jungle]
Angelo Craig -- minimum contract, bonus undisclosed. (base salary acquired at NFL PA)
Mario Urrutia signs four-year deal worth $1.740 million with $39,000 signing bonus. [Cincy Jungle]

If you're interested in joining a fantasy football league at CincyJungle.com, email me (joshkirkendall [at] gmail [dot] com). One person is picking T.J. Houshmandzadeh over Chad Johnson in his fantasy football league because of his red-zone threat.

My Ride with Rudi Johnson.

Sean McClelland says Palmer's "rant shows a lapse in judgment". A lapse in judgment would be getting arrested for trafficking heroine (just started watching The Wire). A lapse of judgment would put his entire family in jeopardy (and I'm really liking The Wire). Pumping your alma mater for some trash talk? That's just plain fun. And for those of you that hate Mike Brown (and that's cool, whatever feeds the lifeline to make you happy), he fires back at Palmer on tOSU/USC trash talking.

“I was going to talk to him through you (the media),” said Brown with a grin. “Tell him – he might not know that my dad coached at Ohio State and beat USC two years in a row, 33-0 and (28)-13, and if he wants to make something out of that he knows where he can find me."

The following is Mark Curnutte's impression on seventh-round pick Mario Urrutia who finally penned his contract Tuesday.

He certainly looks the part at 5-5, 232 pounds, almost more of a tight end than a wide receiver. The Bengals spent a lot of time with him before the draft. His production fell off as a junior when he missed two games and was limited in others because of turf toe. As a sophomore, he had 58 receptions for 973 yards and six touchdowns. He has been productive in a big-time pass offense.

Still, Marvin Lewis sees him as a player to "develop and work with." Urrutia is a longshot, I think, to make the final 53-man roster, but the Bengals might be able to keep him around on the practice squad, where he might be a tempting acquisition for another team to sign him to its active roster.

All in all, he would seem like a lot of value for a seventh-round pick. Remember, a guy named T.J. Houshmandzadeh was a seventh-round pick in 2001, mainly because the Bengals saw him when scouting Oregon State teammate Chad Johnson. 

Bengals Locker thinks that the wide receiver position is set. I'm taking a stab at the depth chart for kickoff weekend (using the age-old Blogger science of speaking out of my ass):

1. Chad Johnson
2. T.J. Houshmandzadeh
3. Andre Caldwell
4. Jerome Simpson
5. Glenn Holt
6. Marcus Maxwell

I don't believe that Antonio Chatman will make the team -- primarily because of recent durability issues. And I believe that they'll put Mario Urrutia on the pratice squad.

For the addicted to readers, here's Chinedum Ndukwe's Notre Dame page.

My award for "Mr. Obvious" headline of the day comes from John Clay of the Herald-Leader. He writes "Bengals need more wins, less drama in '08". I'll let you sit back and absorb that mind-blowing revelation.

Finally, yesterday I bought the first season on DVD of the HBO series, The Wire. I watched the first four episodes and, just, wow. I'm also digging HBO's Generation Kill. Anyone seen either?

Quick recap: Tight end Matt Sherry ($40,000 signing bonus), defensive tackle Jason Shirley, wide receiver Mario Urrutia ($39,000 signing bonus) and Defensive lineman Angelo Craig all signed minimum deals through four seasons. All four can have their deals broken down by the following:

Angelo Craig's agent confirmed with Bengals.com writer, Geoff Hobson, that he has signed his contract. Mark Curnutte writes that Matt Sherry is also officially in the mix -- though Bengals.com doesn't acknowledge that yet -- though Chick Ludwig confirmed it Tuesday.

DT Jason Shirley, TE Matt Sherry, WR Mario Urrutia, DE Angelo Craig have signed four-year deals. Corey Lynch hasn't signed yet, though it's expected he will by the end of the week.

The confusing nature of draft picks with the Bengals, is that there may be an agreement, but the Bengals refuse comment until after the player's signature. Officially four players are in the mix, while six are either awaiting signature or still in negotiations.

A Courier-Journal writer isn't "backing down" from his opinion that Mario Urrutia "could be a bust" -- mostly for his "boneheadedness and whining". Not that a seventh-round pick wide receiver, likely fighting guys like Marcus Maxwell, Glenn Holt and Antonio Chatman for the #5 and #6 spots on the team's depth chart, could be considered a "bust".

As it stands, after Urrutia signed a minimum contract, he'll be far behind Chad Johnson, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Jerome Simpson and Andre Caldwell. Antonio Chatman and Marcus Maxwell will have a leg-up on the competition for their experience and off-season programs and Glenn Holt has benefited from decent performances with special teams. I'd figure that Urrutia would be a good candidate for the practice squad as a receiver the team could groom down the road when Chad and T.J. are either gone, or on their way out.

Travis Brown, Clyde Logan and Maurice Purify are also rookies that figure to compete for a spot.

RealTime Fantasy Sports links to a KFFL.com source that Scout.com reports that Bengals wide receiver Mario Urrutia's four-year contract is a deal with "minimum base salaries" and a $39,000 signing bonus. We're not sure of the validity of the report. The fact it's referenced through three sites -- without finding the actual link (I spent 20 seconds with the site's search engine) -- and I seriously doubt that Urrutia's status as an NFL player would prompt an agent to leak the information against the wishes of the Cincinnati Bengals since their policy is not to announce deals until after they're signed.

What's a "minimum deal"? Chick Ludwig explains.

Excluding signing bonus, a rookie who signs a four-year deal is staring at minimum salaries of $295,000 (2008), $385,000 (2009), $475,000 (2010) and $565,000 (2011).

At the time of this writing, the NFL Players Association hasn't filed any contract yet.