Back in May, the Bengals did something rare in the National Football League. They traded a player for a player when they acquired Brian Leonard for the backup of backup defensive tackle Orien Harris. At this point, Leonard has already been more than worth the cost. After Harris was traded to St. Louis, he was traded to Detroit and then waived after the first game of the season.
Last Sunday against the Houston Texans, Antwan Odom suffered a season-ending injury and was placed on Injured Reserve on Monday, opening a spot on the 53-man roster.
Harris available. Open spot available. Why not sign him? Joe Reedy writes that the Bengals signed defensive tackle Harris to the 53-man roster on Tuesday. Our guess? The Bengals are rebuilding depth at defensive tackle so Jonathan Fanene can work more as a defensive end, rather than rotating with the tackles, as he was when Tank Johnson was recovering. Largely depending on Peko, Fanene could still be rotating with the defensive tackles, but with Harris, the Bengals could be back to a four-man rotation -- again, depending on Peko.