Pat Sims is tough to move inside.
The Bengals are trying to close a contract for backup nose tackle Pat Sims, a deal that has been simmering for weeks since agent John Thornton lives in the Indian Hill neighborhood of Bengals negotiators Katie and Troy Blackburn.
Thornton said he could do the deal at the mailbox and why not? The Bengals like Sims' mail-carrier reliability stopping the run. With free agent Brandon Thompson rehabbing from ACL surgery, the 6-2 340-pound Sims would give them a solid run-stuffer behind Domata Peko at the start of the season.
Last season Sims usually played when Thompson didn't with Sims getting into eight games and Thompson nine. Sims played well against the Steelers, racking up four tackles in the win in Pittsburgh and then coming back in the Wild Card Game to share a sack with left end Carlos Dunlap in the fourth quarterback comeback.
Sims, 30, a third-round pick of the Bengals in 2008, returned last season after a two-year hiatus in Oakland. Pro Football Talk.com reported that Thompson is visiting Seattle.
FINE DAY: The Bengals aren't going to be happy.
Steelers offensive line coach Mike Munchak has told Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle his $10,000 fine for pulling the hair of safety Reggie Nelson during a play on the sidelines in the Jan. 9 Wild Card Game has been rescinded. Last month at the Super Bowl, Bengals tackle Eric Winston, the president of the NFL Players Association, said he thought the fine was too light. Winston couldn't be reached for comment Monday.
