McGee NFL.com profile

        Tony McGee's release appears to be permanent. The Bengals have no plans to bring back the nine-year veteran tight end at a lower cost, as they did with veteran cornerback Tom Carter last year.

        Money may have been one of the reasons McGee, who turned 31 on Sunday, was let go. He will save the Bengals $1.3million under the salary cap. That money could be used in the effort to sign free agent quarterback Gus Frerotte, who visited Wednesday and took a physical and worked out for the Bengals.

        McGee did not return a message left on his cell phone Thursday.

McGee leaps into the crowd after scoring a TD against the Patriots last season. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

        “We have high regard for Tony McGee as a player and a person,” coach Dick LeBeau said.

        Still, offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski said at the NFL combine that the Bengals had to get more production from their tight ends in the passing game.

        The Bengals had just 29 receptions and one touchdown from their tight ends in 2001. McGee had 14 catches, including a 25-yard touchdown pass in the opening-day victory over New England.

        He suffered a sprained knee ligament in the Dec.2 game against Tampa Bay and was put on IR the next day. He played in 11 games with nine starts.

McGee catches a pass in 1998. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        After McGee went down, and he was one of four tight ends put on IR during the season, the Bengals had to use a combination of creative solutions at tight end. They used free agent Kirk McMullen, converted fullback Nick Williams and tackle Jamain Stephens at tight end, but there was virtually no pass threat.

        McGee is the franchise's seventh-leading receiver with 299 catches and stands ninth with 3,795 receiving yards. He had started 136 of 144 possible games during his Bengals career.

        A second-round pick from Michigan in 1993, McGee had a string of 117 consecutive starts that ended in Game15 of the 2000 season when he broke his ankle.

Brewer, Schobel take over tight end McGee's release appears permanent No offer on table to Frerotte Bengals' mini-camp next week

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