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5 months ago: Cincinnati Bengals' Defensive end Michael Johnson takes a break during football practice in Cincinnati Friday June 19, 2009. (AP Photo/Tom Uhlman)

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Hours after news broke that Rey Maualuga agreed to a four-year deal worth a total value of $4.66 million, Richard Kopelman, the agent for Michael Johnson, said that his client will be signing a four-year deal soon. Geoff Hobson writes that the deal is "in the range of a $863,000 guarantee with a play-time escalator that can net him more than a million in salary in the last year." Pro Football Talk writes that the "total maximum value of the deal is $3.47 million if a fourth-year escalator clause is triggered. Per our source, it's a two-level escalator based on his playing time." PFT puts the signing bonus at $863,020 -- as if $20 matters.

Now that Johnson is reportedly signing, the focus, from fans and the media, will turn exclusively to Andre Smith (as if it wasn't before). However, there's a lot of questions. Like how close to Mark Sanchez's deal will the Bengals go, considering Sanchez is possibly a franchise-like quarterback, generally valued much higher than a right tackle. Will the Bengals wait until the Raiders agree to terms with Darrius Heyward-Bey, who is now an official holdout, not reporting to camp on Wednesday?

CinBengal_85 asks if Michael Johnson will compete for defensive rookie of the year.