CINCINNATI (AP) — The Bengals have turned the first two days of the NFL draft into an upgrade on offense.
They reached a deal with right tackle Andre Smith on a three-year deal Friday night, bringing their offense back intact from their playoff season. They then picked running back Giovani Bernard from North Carolina with the first of their two picks in the second round.
All this came a few hours after tight end Tyler Eifert — their first-round pick — arrived in town and started to learn the offense.
Smith was an unrestricted free agent looking for a big deal. When he didn’t get it from somewhere else, he chose to stay in Cincinnati, which made him a first-round pick in 2009.
