Bengals Sign UCLA Safety Tony Dye

UPDATE: According to The Cincinnati Enquirer's Joe Reedy, the Bengals have indeed signed Tony Dye after his workout today.

The Bengals just wrapped up the first day of the rookie minicamp, which serves both as an orientation and series of practices for these young players. All ten rookie draft picks were in attendance, along with all eleven of this year's college free agents (four failed their physicals this morning), nine eligible first year players (2011 practice squad players and other offseason first year additions), and around seventeen unsigned rookie free agents who are here on a tryout basis.

All in all, the Bengals have only filled 84 of the allowed 90 players on their offseason roster. UCLA defensive back Tony Dye is filling one of those remaining six spots.

Dye led the UCLA defense in 2012 with 96 tackles and 9 passes defensed, along the way to earning co-defensive MVP honors. In 2011, however, he missed 7 games due to a neck injury and later injured his ankle once he returned to play.

The extent of Dye's neck injury is unknown, but one scout said that Dye was a "second round choice off of 2010 tape". His miserable 2011 season did nothing to improve his draft status, and he wasn't invited to the 2012 NFL combine.

Dye had originally been reported as one of the Bengals 2012 college free agent signings, but later reports revealed that Dye remained unsigned. Dye also worked out for the Jacksonville Jaguars last week at their rookie minicamp.

He would likely compete with Robert Sands and Jeromy Miles for the final safety spot on the team, probably earning playing time as a special teams player.