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Ben Utecht signs with the Bengals

The Bengals have signed restricted free agent Ben Utecht to an offer sheet. This means the Colts have seven days to counter the offer made. If they don't,  Utecht is a Bengal and the Colts get some kind of compensation (3rd round pick, I think). It's believed the deal is three years at nearly $3 million per year (aka, way too much money for a guy who always gets hurt and fumbled way too much).

Despite Utecht's annoying habit to cough up the ball, I like him and think he's a decent TE. His agent, however, is a friggin' idiot, especially when you read his comments:

Utecht, a restricted free agent out of Minnesota, has made 30 starts and played in 41 games in the shadow of Clark.

"There's no question he was overshadowed," [Christopher] Murray said of Utecht. "He's a vertical tight end. He was a wide receiver in high school and he went down the field at Minnesota."

LOL! That's funny. No Chris, Ben wasn't overshadowed. Ben simply can't carry Dallas Clark's jock. Unlike Dallas, Ben does nothing with the football after the catch, except maybe fumble it. Unlike Dallas, Ben was ALWAYS hurt. I wish Ben well (because the Colts will not match this offer) unless he plays the Colts, and I look forward to the player the Colts will draft with the comp pick they will get from Cincy.

Update [2008-3-15 15:23:26 by BigBlueShoe]: Kirkendall is now saying the Colts do not get any compensation for Utecht because Indy did not tender him $1.4 million. Really, this whole restricted, unrestricted thing is confusing. If he's a restricted free agent, Indy should get compensation of some kind, if not from the Bengals then from the league.