Lost in all the Chad Johnson, Chris Henry hoopla is that the Bengals also released punter Danny Baugher. Baugher signed a two-year deal with the Bengals on February 5th, in part because Kyle Larson wasn't under contract when free agency kicked off this year. Larson signed a five-year deal on March 5 and the team, not needing another punter on roster -- nor the competition -- released Baugher Thursday afternoon.

Well, you have to admit that you pretty much expected Caleb Miller wouldn't play another down this season. In response, they acquired Roy "not related to Archie, Peyton, Eli or Ricky" Manning. You might note right away, Roy Manning hasn't played a game this season and only played one game in 2006. Surprise! We put Miller on IR to utilize his roster spot with a guy that hasn't really played. Alright, then. Agh, don't listen to me. The scarlet is juicing heading into Saturday. And acquiring guys from that school up North isn't necessarily the greatest roster update.

Hobson hit the nail on the head summarizing linebacker this season. "Miller becomes the fifth starting backer declared out for the season, joining David Pollack, Odell Thurman, Lemar Marshall and Ahmad Books."

Bengals waived one wide receiver and signed another.

The Bengals waived Keiwan Ratliff Wednesday to make room for Blue Adams after signing a two-year deal.

Keiwan Ratliff became the highest draft choice released in the Marvin Lewis era Wednesday when he was replaced by fellow cornerback Blue Adams on the Bengals 53-man roster. In what appears to be a move to shore up the special teams, the Bengals opted for Adams and his 19 special teams tackles last season in Tampa Bay. [Bengals.com]

The Bengals are getting nothing from the first three picks of their 2005 draft. Now they're getting nothing from their first two picks of the 2004 draft. Tailback Chris Perry has missed 29 of a possible 51 games because of injury and is on the physically unable to perform list. Now cornerback Keiwan Ratliff, the team's first of two second-round picks in 2004 and the 49th overall, is gone. The Bengals waived the fourth-year player Wednesday. Ratliff, who was in head coach Marvin Lewis' doghouse, played in 51 games with eight starts over three-plus seasons. [Enquirer]

Ratliff, a star at the University of Florida from Columbus Whitehall-Yearling High School, never developed into the impact player the Bengals anticipated. Adams joined the Bengals as a free agent from Tampa Bay on May 7. He missed the first three preseason games while rehabbing a neck injury, but played in Cincinnati's preseason finale and got waived on Sept. 2. He's expected to give the special teams' coverage units a boost. Adams is a former University of Cincinnati star who was a seventh-round draft pick of the Detroit Lions in 2003. He made 33 tackles in 29 games with Tampa Bay the last two seasons. [DDN]

Remember me? A list of Bengals/Ohio people now with the Patriots.

• Kelly Washington. Former Bengals WR 2003-06.
• Mike Wright, DL. Former University of Cincinnati player and Purcell Marian High School graduate.
• Matt Light, OT. From Greenville, Ohio and played at Greenville High School.
• Mike Vrabel, LB. Former tOSU Buckeyes player and badass.
• Bam Childress, WR. Former tOSU Buckeyes player.
• Dean Pees, Patriots defensive coordinator, is from Dunkirk, Ohio and attended Bowling Green. He was also a college coach at Finlay, Miami (Oh), Toledo and Kent State.
• Pepper Johnson, Patriots d-line coach, played at tOSU.

Give blood and receive a Bengals t-shirt.

Sounds like a fair trade, doesn't it?

After the initial roster was set, the team made moves over the weekend letting Quincy Wilson, Blue Adams and Dan Santucci go. Here's the updated 53-man roster.

OFFENSE (25 players)

Quarterback (3) - Carson Palmer, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jeff Rowe

Running backs (4) - Rudi Johnson, Kenny Watson, Clinton Dawson, Quincy Wilson, Jeremi Johnson (FB)

Wide Receiver (6)- Chad Johnson, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Tab Perry, Glenn Holt, Skyler Green, Antonio Chatman (Chris Henry, suspension)

Tight End (4) - Reggie Kelly, Daniel Coats, Nate Lawrie, Brad St. Louis

Offensive Linemen (9) - Levi Jones, Willie Anderson, Bobbie Williams, Andrew Whitworth, Stacy Andrews, Scott Kooistra, Eric Ghiaciuc, Alex Stepanovich, Dan Santucci

DEFENSE (26 players)

Defensive line (8) - Justin Smith, Robert Geathers, Domata Peko, John Thornton, Michael Myers, Jonathan Fanene, Bryan Robinson, Frostee Rucker.

Linebackers (7) - Ahmad Brooks, Rashad Jeanty, Landon Johnson, Caleb Miller, Lemar Marshall, Andre Frazier, Anthony Schegel

Cornerbacks (5) - Deltha O'Neal, Leon Hall, Johnathan Joseph, Keiwan Ratliff, David Jones, Blue Adams

Safeties (6) - Dexter Jackson, Chinedum Ndukwe, Madieu Williams, Marvin White, Herana-Daze Jones, Ethan Kilmer

SPECIAL TEAMS (2)

Kicker - Shayne Graham
Punter - Kyle Larson

Practice Squad

WR - Bennie Brazell
S - John Busing
TE - Tim Day
OL - Nate Livings and Dane Uperesa
FB - Chris Manderino
DT - Matt Toeaina

Adding Ryan Fitzpatrick to replace Doug Johnson improves the position. It also helps Fitzpatrick's career no longer being stuck behind Marc Bulger and Gus Frerotte in St. Louis. Ryan, from Turf Show Times, said of Fitzpatrick in an email:

I think he's a good #2 QB. Smart, understands the game, and can fill in capably. I (think) this was more about giving him the chance to be a number two QB (and free up Rams roster space) than anything else.

Mark Curnutte, rarely playing the role of opinionist, said of the quarterbacks in Cincinnati:

While they might be in "bad shape", they're better than they were Friday night. While I might not use the description of "bad shape", I would say that they'll be fine. And a note of caution, anytime you have to dig into the bag of third-string quarterbacks, you're in "bad shape" anyway.

This Jones back-and-forth is getting ridiculous

Who knew that Levi Jones would be so outspoken about his role on this team. Not a single person projected Jones to be anything more than a starter -- unless injury prevented it. But assumptions and presumptions are taking precedence here. Dare I use the word self-absorbed? No, not right now. But where is this coming from? Is there more to the Jones injury than we know? Is there actually differences between left tackle and head coach? Where the hell is the communication in the lockerroom?

"If he's not going to be the starter, there are a lot of teams that would love to have him," Zuckerman said. "He wants to play. He doesn't want to be a backup."

I suppose the "team" attitude Lewis has been preaching hasn't reach all ears. But again, I'll file this under frustration for now and let it go. What happens when you assume? You make an "ass" out of "u" and "me".

Agent: Jones wants to start [Bengals.com]

More moves...

Mark Curnutte, in his blog, says that Blue Adams, Dan Santucci and Quincy Wilson were waived Sunday afternoon. They signed Clinton Dawson to replace Wilson and David Jones to replace Adams. The Bengals also signed Anthony Schlegel -- can't go wrong with those tOSU boys.

Aaron Elling, Brandon Williams and T.J. Wright cleared waivers and are now on the team's Injured Reserve.

Practice Squad Set

Seven players are now signed to the practice squad.

WR - Bennie Brazell
S - John Busing
TE - Tim Day
OL - Nate Livings and Dane Uperesa
FB - Chris Manderino
DT - Matt Toeaina

Who makes the team? Who doesn't? It's often a prediction that fans, media and bloggers dig into to pass the time between dull preseason moments. Linebackers, receivers, secondary; all positions, specify directly with the Cincinnati Bengals. Backup quarterbacks, PUP and IR lists, cinderella stories, rewarded with good training camps and awesome preseason game performances. Everything applies to cut down day. And unless you're scoring over $330 million with Mega Millions, luck is rarely instituted.

On Saturday, to comply with the required 53-man roster limit, the Bengals released their cuts. Here they are, by position:

QB - Doug Johnson
RB - Curtis Brown, Chris Manderino
WR - Bennie Brazell, Reggie McNeal, Jesse Holley
TE - Tim Day
OL - Alan Reuber, Nate Livings, Harrison Nikolao, Dane Upersea

DL - Kenderick Allen, Xzavie Jackson, Matt Toeaina
LB - Ed Hartwell, Earl Everett, Matt Muncy
Secondary - John Busing, Brandon Williams, T.J. Wright

Other transactions

Chris Perry to PUP list.
Chris Henry to Reserved/Suspended by Commissioner list

Curnutte's blog
Bengals.com

The following is the Bengals PR note -- as relayed by Curnutte and Hobson.

Bengals.com reports that the St. Louis Post Dispatch reports that the Bengals traded a draft pick to the St. Louis Rams for quarterback Ryan Fitzgerald. This was in response from this note after the game.

I'm sure the displeasure comes from the first two sloppy interceptions by Doug Johnson. Jeff Rowe threw another pick later. Combined, Rowe and Johnson completed 16 passes on 28 attempts for 123 yards.

Johnson (5) and Rowe (4) combined for nine sacks.

Jonsing

There's two Jones stories developing. The first is that I believe it would be a mistake to let Herana-Daze Jones go. In three games (sat out against Atlanta), Jones scored 15 total tackles (led team against New Orleans), defended three passes, sacked the quarterback and forced two fumbles. He's becoming the new Kevin Kaesviharn.

Levi Jones is airing his frustrations through the media.

• "I just think if they were getting me ready for Baltimore, you would think they would be trying a little harder to get me prepared for that."
• "I'm surprised about a lot of stuff going on and understand none of it. Last week, I took more reps at right tackle than left tackle."
• "What's that tell you? If they had a starter getting ready for Baltimore Monday night you would think give them as much work as possible, right? So obviously something else is going on, so maybe you can tell me."
• On his knee. "How did I look out there? Don't I look good enough to start? I've been ready for a couple of weeks."

Now Levi is wondering about his future on this team.
"Who knows? Maybe there's a trade in the works."

Seriously, I doubt that. Jones is simply frustrated and will find his way into the starting lineup.

Quote of the day

Lemar Marshall on being back in Cincinnati.
"It was exciting being part of it. They're saying 'Who-Dey,' just like when I was a kid and they're cheering for you this time."

It was announced on April 6 of this year, that the NFL Commissioner, in conjunction with the NFL Players association established the first NFL Player Advisory Council. The six members of the council, selected by the NFLPA, are Donovin Darius (Jacksonville Jaguars safety), Tony Richardson (Minnesota Vikings fullback), Jeff Saturday (Indianapolis Colts center), Takeo Spikes (Philadelphia Eagles linebacker), James Thrash (Washington Redskins wide receiver) and Troy Vincent.

The council will address competition on the field, player safety, medical issues, conduct issues, retired players among other things. One thing the council did was bring back team captains to help establish leadership roles. The Bengals named Carson Palmer (offense) and John Thornton (defense) as team captains.

In roster moves

To met the 75-player deadline, the Bengals waived Stan White (fullback) and Tony Kays (wide receiver) and placed Adam Kieft, David Pollack and Jimmy Verdon on injured reserve.

This is the third time Kieft has found the season-ending injury reserve. In 2005, his rookie season, Kieft tore ligaments in his left knee during the training camp mock game. He was never cleared in 2006 and spent the entire season rehabbing. This year, it's believed that he "re-broke a stress fracture in his left foot" against New Orleans. This man is the epitome of bad karma.

Other stuff

Hobson makes five observations; health at cornerback, the recovering offensive tackles, a good core of defensive tackles, competition at linebacker is tough and picking up guys off waivers.

Mark Curnutte has "Seven Points for Success." No, it's not a Bruce A. Berman infomercial.

After the injury Shayne Graham suffered Monday Night, the Bengals went ahead and acquired place kicker Aaron Elling off waivers from the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Bengals Acquire K Aaron Elling [Press Release]
Bengals pick up kicker [Curnutte's blog]

Stats