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Reactions To Bengals Re-Signing Linebacker Rey Maualuga

We give you some of the polarizing opinions on the Rey Maualuga signing from media talking heads, CJ staff, loyal readers and other Bengals players.

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Can something so expected really become either a letdown or a pleasant surprise? It's hard to imagine, but when it has to do with the Bengals and their fan base, anything goes.

Such was and is the case with the Thursday news that the club re-signed veteran linebacker, Rey Maualuga. For the past few weeks, Bengals beat writers have told us that he was an offseason priority, we mentioned his return in the team free agency blueprint piece and have mentioned it on the Inside The Jungle podcast. If you didn't think it was going to happen, maybe you've been living under a rock.

Almost as expected as the signing itself, the court of public opinion has had mixed reviews. On the positive side, Maualuga is familiar with the defense, is a physical presence, and brings stability to a corps facing depletion this offseason. Let's also not forget the boost in the run defense last season when he returned from injury.

On the other hand, Maualuga has only played a full 16 games twice in six seasons, is viewed as a two-down linebacker and has a reputation for missing tackles in spurts. There are also early indications that Maualuga's 2015 salary cap hit could be $5 million, which isn't ideal for a team looking to make "big changes" this offseason toward team improvement.

On any given day when we at Cincy Jungle cover news for this site, we incessantly scan Twitter for updates. The reactions of media talking heads, CJ contributors and fans is all over the spectrum. We enjoyed it, so we thought you would as well.

CJ Contributors And Other Media:

The Fans:

Bengals Players: