Along with signing a couple of doctors, the Bengals moved cornerback David Pender to the 80-man offseason roster on Friday. Pender has been a roster exemption since December 29 until Friday, when his roster exemption expired. Still classified as a first-year player, Pender played three games with the Indianapolis Colts before the team waived him and the Bengals claimed him in late December.

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With the 2011 season over, the Bengals no longer apply to the 53-man roster limit and the team can also dissolve their practice squad roster because, well, there's no need to have one.

However, the team still has a maximum roster limit of 80 players to stay under throughout the offseason, through training camp until late in the preseason when the roster limits are changed from 80, to 75 and then the 53-man roster you see in the regular and post seasons.

On Monday, the Bengals signed five players to their offseason roster from their practice squad. Those players are Guard Otis Hudson, Fullback James Develin, Offensive Tackle Andrew Gardner, Safety Cary Harris and Defensive End James Ruffin.

On Tuesday, the Cincinnati Bengals officially placed Terrell Owens on Injured Reserve after the wide receiver had surgery on Monday by the renowned Dr. James Andrews to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. That left the 53-man roster down to 52 men.

The Bengals added their 53rd man on Wednesday, according to the Mothership's Twitter account -- or a press release that Cincy Jungle is still not allowed to have because we're the bane of the Bengals and traditional media. Not that I'm standing on my rose-scented soapbox or anything. Just saying.

The Bengals claimed tight end Garrett Mills, from Tulsa, off waivers from the Philadelphia Eagles. Mill was originally drafted by the New England Patriots in the fourth round of the 2006 NFL Draft. According to Wiki (yes, Wiki), Mills was expected to play both tight end and fullback, which shouldn't come as a surpise, with the Bengals love of multi-purpose tight ends?

Mills played nine games in three seasons with Minnesota, recording seven receptions for 91 yards receiving. He played seven games with the Eagles this season, starting two, recording two receptions for 19 yards.

The Cincinnati Bengals drafted Dezmon Briscoe in the sixth round of the 2010 NFL draft. He signed and all was well while many wide receivers competed for that sixth spot on the roster. Because the team made another collosal mistake and kept Jerome Simpson and Quan Cosby, there was virtually no room left on the roster for Briscoe. So they waived him in the hopes of signing him to the practice squad. After clearing waivers, the Bengals waited on Briscoe who was fielding another offer from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

According to an NFL.com report at the time, the Buccaneers signed Briscoe to a $310,000 deal on the practice squad, which is unheard of for any NFL team. The standard going rate for a practice squad player is typically around $5,200 a week. Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis was asked about it when the Bengals faced the Buccaneers in early October.

"When you overpay a guy on the practice squad, you create a problem for teams,'' Lewis said. "I don't know that teams want to set that precedent and they did with Dez.

"That's not a great precedent for teams to set as we try to keep the NFL and doing the things we're trying to do as a league. It's still a league of 32 teams and things are put together a certain way.''

The Buccaneers finally promoted Briscoe from the practice squad to their 53-man roster on Tuesday. So now we're back on watch: Will Briscoe out perform Simpson, thus proving that the Bengals got one wrong? Or will Simpson finally step up and prove the coaches right about being patient and all of that totally-not-fan-friendly jazz?

Along with replacing one place kicker with four career field goal attempts with another kicker with zero career field goal attempts since 2007 when he left Fresno State, the Bengals made more roster moves on the practice squad level.

Cincinnati waived fullback Joe Tronzo from the team's practice squad for another fullback James Develin and linebacker Tim Knicky.

Develin, formerly of Brown University, played on the defensive line and even converted to linebacker while in the Cleveland Browns rookie minicamp in early May. Develin is a three-time All-Ivy player and even recorded 16 tackles for loss one season. However, the Bengals have him listed as a fullback. What is it with this team and having tight ends and linebackers play fullbacks?

Tim Knicky, a linebacker with actually some experience on that side of the ball (he played defensive end in college), was a former walk-on at Stephen F. Austin and a former AP All-American.

CBSSports.com's Draft Page writes:

One of the top defensive ends in the nation last season … The heart and soul of the SFA defense … Has played in 33 games, earning 28 starts during his career … Finished his junior campaign among the nation's leaders in sacks and tackles for losses. … Has received All-SLC recognition each of the past three seasons, and Academic All-SLC honors each of the past two years … A 2009 Consensus Draft Report Preseason Second-Team All-America selection.

According to Joe Reedy (and Geoff Hobson), the Bengals signed Clint Stitser, a former place kicker with the New York Jets competing with Nike Folk. However, he was released in late May, just over a month after signing the kicker because he was struggling in practice. At the time, Jets head coach Rex Ryan said:

"That young man [Stitser], I don’t think he’s ready right now," Jets coach Rex Ryan told reporters. "Will he be ready in the future? Maybe so, but right now I don’t think he’s ready. We’ll probably move on."

Stitser would go on to kick for Seattle in a game, converting three extra points and a 35-yard field goal. Stitser is a former place kicker for Fresno State, converting 71% of his kicks from 2003 through 2007. He was out of football from 2008 and 2009. Awesome. Stitser has yet to make a kick in the NFL. Even more awesome.

The Bengals released Aaron Pettrey to make room. Pettrey, after only two games in the NFL, missed half of his field goal attempts, including a 27-yard chip shot that likely sealed his doom.

Basically, the Bengals dumped a guy with four career field goal attempts with a guy that hasn't made a field goal attempt during a regular season game and hasn't been actively kicking since, really, leaving college in 2007. Awesomer.

The Bengals have expressed interest in Jeff Reed and some conjectured that the team could inquire about veteran place kicker Kris Brown. Instead, the Bengals signed their second straight place kicker with zero NFL experience.

In the hours following the 2010 NFL draft, the Cincinnati Bengals signed several undrafted free agents. One of whom is safety Jeromy Miles. Here's what we wrote about Miles when the signing happened.

[Begin trip down memory lane]

• 2009 Walter Camp First Team All-American
• 2009 CAA All-Conference First Team
• 2009 New England Writer All-Star

A four-year starter, Miles recorded nine interceptions in his career. As a freshman with Navy, Miles was named to the First-Team All-Best and the ECAC Freshman of the year and Honorable Mention Freshman All-American by the Sporting News. Here's his stats for his career:

[End trip down memory lane]

On Wednesday the Bengals signed Miles off the team's practice squad and waived defensive end Victor Adeyanju. The Bengals signed Adeyanju last Thursday, the same day that Jonathan Fanene was placed on Injured Reserve. Miles gives the Bengals 11 defensive backs on roster, which includes recent signings of Fred Bennett (who will wear #23) and Jonathan Wade (who will wear #26) in the past week.

Miles played all five preseason games and recorded six tackles.

One more quick trip down memory lane. I found an old article written by ESPN's Todd McShay that recapped the Bengals draft.

Worst pick: Frostee Rucker, defensive end, USC. Defensive end was definitely a need area, but Rucker was taken too high at No. 91 overall... The Bengals could have found a more explosive end prospect, including Victor Adeyanju (Indiana)

With the Bengals placing Frostee Rucker and Chris Crocker on Injured Reserve, the Bengals need to restock their roster like a can of beans at the grocer.

Last week the Bengals were granted a one-week exemption after Antwan Odom came off his four-game suspension, allowing him to rejoin the team. This week, Odom rejoins the 53-man roster now that the exemption is expired, replacing Rucker on the roster. However, it's unknown when he'll actually be on the field. Odom had wrist surgery over his mid-season break and could be out for a few more weeks.

The Bengals also signed cornerback Jonathan Wade, helping restock the secondary. Per Geoff Hobson:

Wade played in Detroit’s first eight games this season, with four starts, and had 26 tackles with three passes defensed and a fumble recovery. He was released by the Lions on Nov. 10. He was a third-round draft choice of St. Louis in 2007 and played from 2007-09 for the Rams, seeing action in 47 games with six starts and logging 47 tackles with two INTs and seven passes defensed. He was signed by the Lions as a free agent on March 9 of this year.

Ironically, Wade was released from the Lions to make room for recently signed place kicker Dave Rayner. Sean Yuille, lead blogger at the Detroit Lions' SB Nation site Pride of Detroit, writes that Wade "lost confidence after a rough start to the season."

Dear Jonathan. Welcome to the Bengals.