For whatever reason, new Bengal Terrell Owens missed his overnight flight and had to take a later one Thursday, delaying his debut during the first day of workouts at training camp.

The Bengals had planned on him arriving early in the day, taking his physical and signing his contract while the rest of the team worked out in the morning. They’d scheduled an introductory news conference after the morning practice, then expected him to join in an evening workout.

The news conference was rescheduled until after the evening practice.

Cincinnati Bengals rookie second-round defensive end Carlos Dunlap’s four-year deal is worth almost $3.57 million and includes $1.779 million in guaranteed money, per league source.

Dunlap received a $1.228 million signing bonus.

His base salaries are the standard ones of $320,000, $405,000, $490,000 and $575,000

Well, fellow Bengal fans, there’s been quite a stir around the league since the Terrell Owens signing story broke. Reactions and opinions have not been in short supply.

While Chad Ochocinco has gushed openly about being Robin to T.O.’s Batman, the controversy and speculation revolves around the team’s other franchise receiver, Antonio Bryant.

Several NFL observers have surmised that the signing of Owens was a direct result of concern within the Bengals organization that Bryant’s knee is not fully recovered from a 2009 injury, and that he’s not ready to go. They’ve suggested that “A.B.” will end up on the PUP list, shelving him for the first 6 weeks of the season.

They’ve even gone so far as to say the team has considered cutting the former Buccaneer, and that team officials are suffering from “buyer’s remorse.”

The gossip mill has also churned out conjecture that Bryant isn’t happy with the snap count and role he’ll have now.  PFT suggested that the team would consider cutting him outright, and there was even anxiety about whether or not Bryant would surrender Owens’ signature #81 without a fight.

All this in less than 24 hours.

Speaking on NFL Network’s Total Access tonight, former Bucs DT Warren Sapp provided the first known reactions from Bryant on the T.O. signing. Sapp is a close friend of Bryant’s, leading off the telecast with the answers to these “burning questions.”

Sapp said that Bryant is *not* concerned about T.O. coming to the Queen City, that he will willingly give up the #81 jersey, and that his knee is ready for camp.

Through Sapp, Bryant reported that while the knee did flare up (as reported here) it is fine now and ready for the first practices of camp tomorrow. He conceded the team will be careful with him and hold him out of ½ of the two-a-days to be careful with the knee, but there was nothing further to be concerned about.

Regarding the number, Sapp stated that Bryant has had a different number throughout his career, so he has no qualms about changing it for his new teammate.

Hopefully this will settle the hearsay.

Assuming the reports from Sapp are accurate, the team should have a formidable offense to go with an already stellar defense.

Here’s the snip from Bengals.com

With second-round pick Carlos Dunlap signing his contract at about the time the Bengals convened their team meeting Wednesday, first-rounder Jermaine Gresham is the only unsigned player but he didn’t look to be close enough to a deal get here by Thursday’s morning practice.

The agreement leaves only first-round TE Jermaine Gresham unsigned as camp practices begin tomorrow. While Hobson’s report sounds gloomy, I wouldn’t expect Gresham’s holdout to last longer than a few days. It should certainly get resolved more quickly than last year’s battle with Andre Smith’s agent Eugene Parker.

The team has 80 players under contract now, meaning that they’ll have to start letting go of people when new ones come on board, starting tomorrow when T.O. signs on the dotted line.

If I were to hazard a guess, I’d say that Freddie Brown should probably be nervous.

UPDATE:  The team waived Brown this afternoon.

It’s been a busy day here in Bengal-land.  In the span of a few hours they’ve signed third round WR Jordan Shipley, agreed to terms with the incomparable Terrell Owens, and now its being reported by NFP that they’ve also signed fourth-rounder Roderick Muckelroy.

Muckelroy, a linebacker from Texas, got a four-year 2.21 million deal.  The All-Big 12 selection in 2009 has 256 tackles and 5 1/2 sacks as a collegian.

Only first round pick TE Jermaine Gresham and second-rounder DE Carlos Dunlap remain unsigned.  As previously reported, players report to camp in Georgetown, KY tomorrow.

Profootballtalk.com is reporting that mercurial wide receiver Terrell Owens has agreed to terms with the Bengals on a one-year, 2 million dollar deal.

Apparently PFT’s sources are also saying he can earn another 2 million in incentives, giving him a potential value of 4 million.  The incentives are based on receptions, yards, and touchdowns.

This news will no doubt make a highly-competitive WR derby even more so for youngsters like Jerome Simpson and Quan Cosby, as well as veteran Matt Jones.

At this point the team can go three wide receivers with Chad Ochocinco, Antonio Bryant, and Terrell Owens, with Cedric Benson in the backfield and Jermaine Gresham at tight end.

Time to kiss the baby.

Somewhere Carson Palmer is smiling.  And Chad Ochocinco is swooning.

While most of the conversation the past several days has revolved around a certain famous wide receiver the Bengals are trying to sign, the team completed a deal with another one today.

Multiple outlets are reporting that Cincinnati has signed 3rd-round pick WR Jordan Shipley to a contract. The terms are being reported as for 4 years at 2.54 million.  The signing bonus was around $757,000.

Shipley was impressive in mini-camp and looks to compete for the slot receiver position and as a punt and kick-off return man. He’s been compared to New England’s Wes Welker due to their similar games.

The former Longhorn tallied 248 receptions for a staggering 3,191 yards and 33 touchdowns while in Austin.  He also had four touchdowns on kick returns as a collegian, including three on punts and one on a kick-off.

The signing leaves first-rounder TE Jermaine Gresham, second-rounder DE Carlos Dunlap, and fourth-rounder LB Roderick Muckelroy as the team’s remaining unsigned picks.

Players report to camp tomorrow.

 Owens can still help an NFL offense as a viable No. 2 receiver who has the potential to still make an occasional big play.Everyone brings up the sharp decline in his numbers last year in Buffalo and the numbers are what the numbers are. Fifty-five catches is a sharp decline from his usual pace, but what about the other end of those 55 passes? Was he throwing those to himself? Buffalo had a QB problem in 2009 and continues to have one in 2010. Cincinnati does NOT have a QB problem.

If T.O. ends up on the Bengals, he’ll give Carson Palmer a “go-to guy” for the dirty work of playing WR. The tough short catch, the 4-yard slant on 3rd and 3 or the grab in the back of the end zone as the hammer falls from a waiting safety. On the current Bengals roster, there are only three wideouts with any experience and only fellow VH-1 reality star Chad Ochocinco is a proven commodity. From Palmer’s vantage point I think T.O. as a No. 2 WR would give the Bengals a replacement for TJ Houshmandzadeh, which was a spot sorely lacking in 2009 when TJ left for Seattle in free agency. That running game with Chad, T.O. and a young TE like Jermaine Gresham to worry about? Child please.

Sage words, my friends.  Sage words indeed.

“There’s a reason why the Rams pulled out of the TO bidding—the asking price hasn’t come down,” the Enquirer reports.

Earlier this offseason, it was reported that Owens was looking for at least $5 million per year.

“I would rather have him line up on our side of the ball compared to the other side,” Bengals owner Mike Brown said. “He’s a good player. He changes field position. He makes a lot of long plays that win games. I’ve seen him do it against us. I’d like him to be here and do it against someone else.”

A recommendation from Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer is carrying some weight.

“I think Carson’s comments to me they resonate well,” Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. “I know when Carson has something important to say that when he calls me and I call back from an unknown number and he answers I know he wants to talk. I know something was important on his mind.”

The reason?  The same one that caused the Bengals to miss on so many free agents during the dark years:  The Rams knew that Owens didn’t really want to play for them, and was simply using them as leverage and a fall-back plan.

Per a league source, the Rams bailed because they knew that Owens prefers to join Chad Ochocinco and Carson Palmer in Cincinnati.  The Rams also realized they’d have to overpay in order to get him, given that they are not a contending team.

It is nice to be on the other side of that spectrum for once. 

The report goes on to say that other teams have expressed some modicum of interest, but nothing serious yet.

So now it looks like T.O. can join Cincy at the offer Brown has on the table, or wait to see if injuries in camp drastically change the market for his services. To me, it looks more and more like he’ll be a Bengal come Wednesday.