With all quiet after they made an offer to Shayne Graham a few weeks ago, the Bengals signed their second kicker of the offseason when they inked Ohio State's Mike Nugent on Friday. At the moment, Graham still seems to be an option.
Ironically, Nugent, 28, from nearby Centerville, Ohio, arrived the day of the second round. It was five years ago the Jets took Nugent with the 47th pick and he had 80 percent accuracy in his first three seasons. But then he injured his quadricep on an extra point in 2008 and lost his job for good to Jay Feely in the ultimate Wally Pipp-New York.
He surfaced In Tampa Bay last year and won the job but he was cut after missing four of six tries. Nugent pinch-hit for the injured Neil Rackers late in the year and hit both kicks for the Cardinals. He now joins Dave Rayner on the Bengals roster.
"This is a guy that was highly regarded coming out in the draft and if we can get him back where he was before the injury, he's a very interesting guy," said special teams coach Darrin Simmons.
