Reinard Wilson pressures Elvis Grbac into an interception last season. (Steven M. Herppich photo) | ZOOM |

        The Bengals added their third key piece to their defense in less than two weeks when they agreed to a three-year, $4.5million deal Thursday with rushing specialist Reinard Wilson.

        Wilson, who led the Bengals with nine sacks in 2001, said he will sign the contract today in Florida.

        “I have no doubts about being in Cincinnati,” Wilson said from his Lake City, Fla., home. “I just want to play football and win games. Coach (Dick) LeBeau has turned things around. I think we can reach the 10-win mark this season.”

        Wilson's agreement follows the agreement reached Tuesday night with former Indianapolis cornerback Jeff Burris and comes 10 days after Bengals free agent cornerback Artrell Hawkins re-signed. Burris and Hawkins are expected to start as the most experience pair of Bengals cornerbacks in many seasons, and Wilson teamed with rookie defensive end Justin Smith to lead the 2001 defense to a franchise-record 48 sacks.

        “Any time you have two fast guys coming off the edge, that helps,” Smith, who had 8.5 sacks in 2001, said Thursday night. “The offense can't isolate on one guy.”

        Wilson, 28, a five-year veteran, had visited Minnesota and Indianapolis as an unrestricted free agent, and Chicago recently had started to negotiate with his agent, David Levine. Wilson said the money discussed by the other teams is similar to what he will receive from the Bengals.

        “We are very pleased to bring Reinard back,” LeBeau said. “We think we have a good nucleus of pass rushers, but nine of our sacks were in Reinard's column last year, and had we lost him, it would have been a significant thing to replace.”

        CBSSportsline.com listed Wilson as the second-rated defensive end in free agency, behind Leonard Little, who re-signed with St. Louis.

        Wilson was the Bengals' first-round draft choice in 1997, 14th overall, and he started 18 games in his first two seasons. He didn't start in 1999 or 2000, but his five starts in 2001 signaled his return.

        Even though he led the Bengals with six sacks in 1998, he struggled as an NFL linebacker — his position at Florida State, where he left as the school's all-time sacks leader with 35.5 — and his transition to becoming a productive defense end took longer than hoped.

        He resurrected his career in 2001 and was a major contributor to the NFL's ninth-ranked defense under first-year coordinator Mark Duffner.

        “I love Coach Duffner,” Wilson said. “He's one of the hardest-working coaches in the NFL, and he strives to be a great coach and wants us to strive to be great players.”

        Said Duffner: “There's a real appetite, a hunger by our team to make further improvement. Artrell's best football is ahead of him. Burris is a quality player, and to get Reinard back — we know these guys. There are a lot of teams where guys aren't coming back.”

        The Bengals' 48 sacks were second-most to Pittsburgh's 55 in the AFC and tied with Chicago for fourth-most in the league. Nine times they held opponents to fewer than 20 points.

        “We made a huge improvement on defense,” Wilson said of the Bengals. “We've got some great players in (linebackers) Brian (Simmons) and Takeo (Spikes) and Justin. It's great to have Artrell and Burris.

        “We're right there. I know Coach Duffner will want us to be a top-five defense this year.”

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