You knew it was a matter of time. Few deals were being offered from other teams. And the connection he has with the players is special. His role could be instrumental. We just had to wait for Reggie Kelly to sign. The team was somewhat concerned. They wanted to test his surgically repaired Achilles. At the time, Kelly said.
“I feel great. I hated getting hurt, but sitting out the year I think is really going to help my body,” Kelly said Friday. “I feel refreshed. The foot feels fine and right now I’m just working on football conditioning, working on some blocking sets and route running. I think they were impressed with what they saw when I worked out for them so now I just think it’s going to come down to sitting down and looking at some numbers and that’s up to my agent and the front office.”
Reports started surfacing this week that Kelly was close to signing a deal and that he could be back in Cincinnati by next week. On Thursday morning, Reggie Kelly said that a deal is done and he will likely sign today.
Kelly will round out an intriguing scenario at tight end. Last year, the Bengals were faced with two season-ending injuries in Kelly and Ben Utecht, forcing the team to rely on J.P. Foschi and Daniel Coats. A year later, Chase Coffman makes his return after given a red-shirt year to transition into an NFL tight end, while dealing with an injury. The Bengals drafted Jermaine Gresham in the first round of this year's NFL draft and now Kelly returns to mentor both.
I would say that things are coming along beautifully at tight end.
[UPDATE] It's official. Reggie Kelly will be with the Bengals in 2010.