GEORGETOWN, Ky. — The Bengals are willing to go one place they haven't gone before — a split signing bonus — in their attempt to reach a contract settlement with top draft pick Justin Smith.

        But it's less likely Bengals management will venture into more unchartered territory — a guaranteed contract — that Smith's agent, Jim Steiner, would like them to travel.

        Smith's holdout, which reached 10 days Sunday, is now about the unlikely prospect the Bengals would cut him in the first two years, executive vice president Katie Blackburn said Sunday.

        Cutting Smith within the next two seasons would be the only way he wouldn't get his money, Blackburn said, and the Bengals don't cut first-round draft picks.

        “What are the chances of that?” she said. “To start guaranteeing contracts after we haven't, it's not a road we're going to start going down.”

        Steiner couldn't be reached for comment Sunday, but it's believed that he wants similar guarantees that as many as nine other first-round picks have received. The guarantees he wants serve as protection until the second part of the singing bonus kicks in next spring.

        Smith was the No.4 overall pick, and the picks around — No.3 Gerard Warren of Cleveland and No.5 LaDainian Tomlinson of San Diego — remain unsigned. Blackburn said the Bengals are offering Smith more money than No.6 pick Richard Seymour got from New England.

        “What we've offerered is essentially guaranteed, and what he wants, it doesn't seem necessary,” Blackburn said.

        The Bengals reportedly have offered a six-year deal worth $17.25 million with a split signing bonus that totals an estimated $9 million. It also contains incentive and escalator clauses with another $13 million to push the potential value to more than $30 million.

        LeBEAU's TAKE: A veteran of 43 NFL seasons as a coach and player, Dick LeBeau isn't sweating the Smith holdout.

        “We've all been through this,” he said. “It will get done when it gets done, and it will get done. We're going to work with what we've got, and when Justin gets here, we'll have a lot of work for him also.”

        UP NEXT: The Georgetown College training camp complex will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today through Wednesday. The Bengals will have skills sessions from 11 a.m.-noon and practice from 3-5 p.m. They have a night practice from 7-9 p.m. Thursday.

Bengals cornerbacks go back to basics Bengals won't guarantee Smith's contract

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