Bengals Banter: A Quick Review To Start July

Taking a brief look at the stories from the weekend and Monday in case you missed anything.

+ The Bengals have $16.3 million available under the salary cap, according to NFL.com.

+ Our own Anthony Cosenza takes the first look at the training camp position preview. Quarterbacks.

+ NFL Films senior producer and analyst Greg Cosell offers another analysis on Andy Dalton; though he still harps on the arm strength issue, he praises Dalton's other attributes.

+ Speaking of Dalton, he makes a CBSSports.com list as one of ten players that could take a step back this season.

+ Examining the likelihood which rookies may start the regular season opener against the Baltimore Ravens.

+ Though he's not really on the hot seat as Pro Football Weekly may hint, Marvin Lewis enters the final year under contract making some wonder if this isn't his final year as the Bengals head coach.

+ Bengals.com is firing up another class for the website's Hall of Fame.

+ Despite the dislike on Chris Crocker, usually a victim of big plays by the opposing offense, he was one of the more efficient pass rushers in the secondary over the past three years.

+ Former Bengals wide receiver Cris Collinsworth likes the direction that the Bengals are headed:

"The thing that I like about them is that while they have some colorful characters, they’re not over-the-top anymore. I think that, to some extent, the great teams that you see have a way of humbling themselves. If you look at the teams that are so consistently on top – the Steelers, the Patriots – some of these teams just do a great job of showing up for work every day, getting the job done, not really caring about who gets all of the attention, and playing as a team. I think to some extent, they had some addition by subtraction last year. Even though they didn’t have a lot of experience on the field, I just felt that they were in it together in a much larger way then they’ve been in the past."

+ Running back Brian Leonard likes his role with the Bengals as a third-down back and special teamer.

+ Wide receiver Jordan Shipley is putting together a football camp for kids at Mason Middle School.

+ Adam Jones, who admits to have spent over a million bucks during a single weekend, speaks with the NFL rookies.