Report: Alvin Keels and the Bengals met on Friday; no word on progress

At what point in time last night did you think to yourself, "boy, we need that Andre Smith in camp, RIGHT NOW!" You probably didn't. You probably were far more focused on how Palmer threw the ball, or remarking how well the Bengals ran the football between Cedric Benson and Bernard Scott -- 14 rushes, 58 yards rushing.

And unless the broadcast said something, you probably didn't think about Andre Smith. In fact, you were able to focus so much more on the skill players because the man that seems destined to, no matter what he does, be demoted, does his job. That's right. Because of Anthony Collins, you didn't think about Andre Smith once while the first team offense was on the field.

You would think that because of Collins' performance that the Bengals solidified their upperhand, but saying, "while it would be nice to have the strength of an awesome depth chart, we don't necessarily need you right now." However, it doesn't work that way. The Bengals do want Smith in town, but typically set a price and stick to it; apparently not giving a damn what happens around them. And Smith, from comments he's made, wants to be with his new teammates. And with Smith, the Bengals depth with offensive tackles would be monstrous.

Maybe that ball is rolling again. Joe Reedy writes that while the "logjam of unsigned picks in the lower top 10 has broken", both sides have started talking again. Reedy writes that the two sides were expected to meet on Friday. No word on any progress that's come from the Friday's meeting, but we have the feeling that if any progress were made, reports would surface today -- or at the very least, this weekend.