This move was kind of a surprise as Simmons has been one of the better players on the Bengals’ defense during his career.  Simmons played in 11 games last season for the Bengals and he made 60 tackles, had 2 interceptions, defensed 2 passes, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble.  For his career, Simmons has played in 121 games (all for the Bengals) and he has made 722 tackles, 23 sacks, has 11 interceptions (2 returned for TDs), defensed 29 passes, forced 13 fumbles and recovered 8 fumbles.  Simmons will be missed by his teammates.

The Bengals have franchised DE Justin Smith keeping him off of the free agent market.  Smith will get paid $8.6 million dollars for one season.  It’s possible that the Bengals try to lock up Smith on a long term contract at some point in the off season.  Smith played in all 16 games last season and he had 81 tackles, 7.5 sacks, defensed 3 passes, forced a fumble and recovered 2 fumbles.

The Bengals didn’t throw much to their tight ends last season but that’s because they really don’t have playmakers there.  Their tight ends caught 35 passes for 374 yards with 2 TD grabs last season.

Reggie Kelly played in 16 games (16 starts) and he caught 21 passes for 254 yards (12.1 avg) with 1 TD catch.  For his career, Kelly has played in 121 games (103 starts) and he has caught 133 passes for 1,300 yards (9.8 avg) with 5 TD grabs.

Tony Stewart played in 16 games (3 starts) and he caught 14 passes for 120 yards (8.6 avg) with 1 TD grab.  For his career, Stewart has played in 68 games (23 starts) and he’s caught 55 passes for 464 yards (8.4 avg) with 3 TD grabs.