.JPG)
NFL Kickoff concert
.JPG)
2008 Venice Film Festival
2008 VMA nominations
Tight end Utecht signs with Bengals
However, the Colts have seven days to match his deal, reportedly worth $9 million over 3 years.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
The Cincinnati Bengals snared a pass-catching tight end Friday, March 14, but will they be able to hold onto him?
Addressing one of their biggest needs, the Bengals signed Indianapolis Colts restricted free agent (RFA) Ben Utecht to a three-year offer sheet reportedly worth $9 million.
Extras
The Colts have seven days to match — until midnight March 21 — but they're up against the salary cap because they just made Dallas Clark (six years, $40 million) the richest tight end in the NFL.
If Indianapolis refuses to match, the Bengals won't be required to give the Colts a future draft pick because Utecht entered the NFL as a college free agent and was not tendered by the Colts beyond draft-status level.
Indianapolis offered Utecht the lowest possible one-year deal for an RFA at $927,000. Had the Colts tendered him at $1.4 million, they would have received a second-round draft choice as compensation.
It was a shrewd move by the Bengals, who haven't attempted to wrestle an RFA away from another club in head coach Marvin Lewis' five previous seasons.
Utecht, a 6-foot-6, 251-pounder from the University of Minnesota, caught 31 passes for 364 yards and one TD in 14 games with 13 starts in 2007.
His career statistics include 77 catches for 861 yards (an 11.2-yard average) and three TDs in 41 games with 30 starts, including a start in the Colts' 29-17 victory over Chicago in Super Bowl XLI.
Meanwhile, the Bengals put free safety Kevin Hoyng through an intense, half-hour workout at the University of Dayton.
"I thought it went very well," said Hoyng, the Flyers' former quarterback. "I got an opportunity to show them my athleticism. Right now, Cincinnati is showing the most interest. I'd love to play for the Bengals."
