Darqueze Dennard is back with the Cincinnati Bengals.
According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the two sides reached a deal Thursday to bring the former first-round pick back in the fold.
Dennard tested the open market and had a visit with the Kansas City Chiefs — and a mystery team was in the mix — but the Bengals stood firm and got him back.
Dennard joined the Bengals in 2014 out of the first round and appeared in 14 games. He missed six in 2015 before starting to assume a bigger role within the defense. Over the past two seasons, he quickly morphed into one of the league’s better slot corners.
Speculation suggested Dennard wanted boundary-corner money and he might get a chance to prove it on his new contract. Without a resume in Cincinnati on the boundary, it seems like the free-agent market didn’t have what Dennard expected.
For the Bengals, it relegates B.W. Webb to a depth role and wraps up what could have been one of the roster’s bigger problems.
