The Bengals reached an agreement in principle on a three-year contract Tuesday night with free agent cornerback Jeff Burris. The deal, the first acquisition of the offseason for the Bengals, gives them their other projected starting cornerback for the upcoming season.

        The contract will be signed this week, and coach Dick LeBeau said he would comment on Burris once the contract was filed with the NFL.

        Duke Tobin, the Bengals' co-director of pro/college personnel, who negotiated for the club, was pleased.

        “We feel very good about it,” Tobin said of the agreement with the ninth-year pro from Notre Dame, who has played professionally for Buffalo and Indianapolis. “It was a good fit. We wanted him, and he wanted to be here. He's been a top corner in this league for a number of years, and we expect him to continue.”

        Burris, who will turn 30 in June and has 99 NFL starts and 16 interceptions in eight seasons, is slated to start opposite Artrell Hawkins.

        Terms of Burris' agreement were not available.

        The Bengals aren't sure whom they will draft with the 10th overall pick April 20, but it still could be a cornerback, possibly Quentin Jammer of Texas or Phillip Buchanon of Miami (Fla.).

Bengals, Burris reach deal Bengals still working on Wilson

SULLIVAN: Will NBA be next suitor for Huggins?
Huggins saga typified 'Misinformation Age'
Dunn misses football but doesn't regret giving it up
New ballpark fare: veggie dogs
Selig rules out lockout, but union calls it a ploy
Reds start season with 12 pitchers
Arm troubles mystify Reitsma
Kearns issue settled
Game Report: Twins 12, Reds 9
High school sports page
NCAA basketball page
Indiana's scrappy Moye going after ball, title
Oklahoma counts on its bench
Kansas unfazed by media spotlight
Final Four is birthright for Lady Vols
Memphis, South Carolina reach NIT final

• Return to Bengals front page...