Guest appearances continue filling in for Paul Daugherty's The Morning Line, the latest being Robb Hoff who "has freelanced for ESPN’s production research department" and "written for newspapers and magazines over the years and previously promoted his book Crackers For A Lycanthrope in the Greater Cincinnati area." Hoff writes about the Bengals because in this city, it's always the Bengals first and Reds second -- not that we're interested in getting into a "whose town is it" debate. And during that discussion, one nugget stood out.

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According to WKMG Local 6 in Orlando, Florida, the Cincinnati Bengals have signed offensive coordinator Jay Gruden to a three-year, $3.6 million extension to keep him in Cincinnati. Gruden has been rumored to have been contacted by various teams, including the Jacksonville Jaguars, about a head coaching position after just one year as the Bengals' offensive coordinator, but recently denied being contacted by any teams and announced that he would be staying in Cincinnati.

From WKMG:

Local 6 Sports Director David Pingalore has learned that Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Jay Gruden signed a three year extension with the Bengals to remain in that position.

Pingalore's NFL sources confirm the deal is worth 3.6 million dollars.

The extension doubles the salary Gruden made in his first year with the Bengals.

There is no coverage of this extension from any Cincinnati-based news outlets, and the team has yet to officially confirm the report, so it's something that we will be keeping an eye on moving forward, but if this is correct, it would seem that the Bengals have locked up their offensive coordinator for three more seasons.

When the season comes to a close every year, there's no need for a practice squad because, you know, the Bengals aren't practicing. And since the team is no longer restricted to a 53-man roster because, you know, their season is over, teams largely sign their practice squad players to offseason contracts.

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It was getting late and the Cincinnati Bengals needed to get a bell cow running back into training camp. On July 31 the team re-signed free agent Cedric Benson to a one-year deal worth $3 million and another $2 million with incentives. According ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter, Cedric Benson has already earned $500,000 worth of incentives and if reaches the 1,100 yard rushing milestone, he'll earn another $250,000.

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The Cincinnati Bengals signed cornerback Devon Torrence to the team's practice squad, days after the team placed cornerback John Bowie on the Practice Squad Injured List, the team announced on Monday. Torrence strung together 23 starts with the Ohio State Buckeyes, posting 99 career tackles, four interceptions and four forced fumbles. Torrence signed with the Minnesota Vikings as a college free agent following the 2011 NFL Draft.

Torrence joins the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad, giving the team a full compliment of eight players, which includes wide receiver Armon Binns, quarterback Zac Robinson, linebacker Micah Johnson, tight end Chase Coffman, running back James Develin, offensive tackle Matthew O'Donnell and defensive tackle Swanson Miller.

We're fairly confident about that list even though Bengals.com values the practice squad roster just enough to keep two players on their list that's not even employed by the team (and Otis Hudson promoted to the 53-man roster).

The Cincinnati Bengals have signed linebacker Micah Johnson to the team's practice squad, the team announced via Twitter on Tuesday. A spot on the practice squad roster opened after offensive lineman Otis Hudson's promotion following Bobbie Williams' season-ending ankle injury against the Houston Texans last weekend.

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The Cincinnati Bengals have announced on Wednesday that they released defensive tackle Cornell Banks from the team's practice squad, signing defensive tackle Swanson Miller in his place. Cincinnati signed Banks last week after releasing linebacker Bruce Davis from the practice squad around the same time that the team announced Keith Rivers was finishing the season on the Reserve/Non-Football Injury list

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Here at Cincy Jungle we have precisely three posts related to practice squad cornerback Walter McFadden (when he signed, an update with one practice squad spot open and another update when that practice squad was filled). Now here's a fourth.

The Cincinnati Bengals have announced that cornerback Walter McFadden has been released from the team's practice squad on Tuesday.

McFadden's release brings Cincinnati's practice squad count to seven, which likely means the spot will be filled at some point soon.