James Harrison Reached Out To Marvin Lewis After Being Cut From Pittsburgh

Signed. Not yet sealed and soon to be delivered. The Cincinnati Bengals made their biggest offseason news Friday when the team reached a reported two-year agreement with James Harrison. The free agent linebacker announced the agreement with a "Hello Cincinnati" message on twitter while local and national beat writers confirmed. Harrison's agent, Bill Parise, hasn't commented on the details of the agreement.

Cincinnati hasn't officially announced the agreement and they won't until Harrison's signature is on the contract, though he's already passed his physical. According to reports Harrison will join the team during the second week of May to begin workouts.

Geoff Hobson with Bengals.com writes that it was Harrison that reached out to Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis.

When he got cut, Harrison reached out to Lewis but the deal took some time to take shape as the Bengals focused on re-signing their own. Harrison wanted to be close to his two sons in Pittsburgh. He wanted to play in the AFC North. He wanted to play for a good defense and Cincinnati fit the bill.

Details of the agreement is currently up for debate. There are some suggesting that the money is in-line of being a 4-3 SAM linebacker that may only receive a third of the team's defensive snaps, due to Cincinnati's preference of nickel formations. He's not going to replace Carlos Dunlap or Michael Johnson at defensive end, though it's possible Mike Zimmer applies a Vontaze Burfict and Harrison combination, using Maualuga primarily during running downs.