Bengals eyeing WR Andre Holmes, per report

With Marvin Jones heading to Detroit and Mohamed Sanu likely gone as well, the Bengals are searching for another receiver to keep their offense rolling next season.

Between the number of receivers already hitting free agency to go with several cap casualties thus far, there are several options to choose from. One of the better names left on the market is Raiders receiver Andre Holmes, who the Bengals reportedly are in the mix for.

A source says that teams in the mix for Raiders free-agent WR Andre Holmes are #Vikings, Raiders, Lions, Bengals and Eagles.

— Chris Tomasson (@christomasson) March 9, 2016

Holmes, who entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of  Hillsdale in 2011, began his career with the Vikings for their training camp that year. He was waived during final cuts before the Cowboys signed him to their practice squad. He would bounce back and forth between the practice squad and the 53-man roster for the next two seasons before ending up with the Raiders in 2013.

Over the next three seasons, Holmes would appear in 42 games (18 starts) and catch 86 passes for 420 yards and nine touchdowns. This past season, Holmes played in all 16 games (1 start) but caught just 14 passes for 201 yards and four scores as Michael Crabtree and Amari Cooper got the bulk of the targets.

Holmes' best season as a pro came in 2014 when he caught 47 passes for 693 yards and four touchdowns with rookie quarterback Derek Carr throwing him the ball. Holmes has shown some nice promise to this point in his pro career, but not enough that he'd be a sure bet as the No. 2 WR in the Bengals' offense. He's more likely to replace the numbers Sanu was putting up as a WR3.

At this point, it's really hard to gauge what kind of offers Holmes will draw in free agency. He's not the best guy out there, but in a very thin marker for receivers, several teams are probably willing to overpay to get him. It's unlikely the Bengals pay more than they think he's worth.