Biggest. Contract. Ever.

Bengals sign DT Panter to largest deal in team history
By "Who Dey"

Off-Season 2179 (Cincinnati ) - The Cincinnati Bengals announced in an early evening press conference that they had matched Washington's $31.5 million per year free agent offer to DT Don Panter, guaranteeing the sixth year player $157.5 million over the next five years, the biggest contact in franchise history going back even to their days in Carolina.

Cincinati Bengals GM 'Trader' Lee Remley lived up to his nickname yesterday, dealing Drew McGee, a former free agent singing who threatened to retire after this season after being moved to right tackle, to the Buffalo Bills, clearing enough cap room to sign Panter.

When asked about trading McGee to a division rival, Remley was unconcerned.

'True, there's that old saying about not trading a guy to a division rival, but me and the two Marks make deals back and forth all the time,' he said. 'Besides, Panter has faced McGee every day in practice and knows how to get by him,' he added with a grin that drew laughter from the press corps.

But back to the man of the moment.

'I think we paid a guy $27 million a year once,' Remley said. 'But this is an insane amount of cash. It came down to this: did we want to lose a key member of our defense or not? I think you know now what we decided.'

With the change to the 3-4, there is a good chance that Panter slides out to defensive end to take advantage of his quickness. That will be one of the questions entering training camp.

As for Panter himself, he is a man blown away.

'To go for making four million to $31.5, it's more than a dream come true,' Panter said. 'I'm glad I can stay here with my teammates and help win us a Sundby Cup finally. We've had a lot of good teams here and we are way overdue.'

Bengals fans hope his prediction comes true. It has definitely been a while for this franchise.

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