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Cincy

3/14/06

Taking safety measures

Coach Lewis says club addresses one of the positions of great need

BY MARK CURNUTTE | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER

<!--ARTICLE BODY TEXT-->As the reigning Super Bowl most valuable player, safety Dexter Jackson left Tampa Bay after the 2002 season and signed a five-year free-agent contract with Arizona.
Before the Bengals played at Arizona and lost 17-14 Jackson remembers Bengals coach Marvin Lewis being asked about the Cardinals' prized free agent acquisition.
"When I first left Tampa, a lot of people were saying, 'Who was Dexter?' I went to Arizona and won a couple of defensive players of the week and had career highs in tackles (105) and interceptions (six)," Jackson said Monday. "A reporter asked (Lewis) who was Dexter Jackson, and he said, 'I don't know who he is.' I had an interception that game and dropped one.
"I went up to (Lewis) after the game and said, 'Coach, you know who Dexter Jackson is now, don't you?' "
Lewis and Jackson are now on the same side. The Bengals signed the free agent safety to a four-year, $7.6 million contract.
Though Lewis declared the safety jobs open, Jackson probably will open as the strong safety. Third-year defensive back Madieu Williams, who missed 12 games because of a shoulder injury, should return healthy and reclaim his free safety position.
The 6-foot, 210-pound Jackson should make an instant contribution to the run defense. The Bengals finished 20th in run defense and 26th in pass defense in 2005.
"He has been a very fine tackler, a great tackler," Lewis said.
"He has had great fits as he inserts in the running game," Lewis said. "He has played the deep middle pass coverage."
Beside Williams, the Bengals are expecting a return by Kim Herring, who missed all of the 2005 season with a shoulder injury. Lewis said both Williams and Herring will be cleared medically. Kevin Kaesviharn could return to a backup/special teams role. Don't look for Ifeanyi Ohalete to come back.
"We add Dexter to the mix, and (he) gives us another veteran guy," Lewis said. "It's still a position in the upcoming college draft where there are a lot of players. By adding Dexter we don't have to go in and say, 'OK we've got to get this position in the draft.' We're able to really let that work for us and keep doing our homework. It's why we did this at this point."
After division rival Cleveland gobbled up free agents during the first two days, the Bengals struck strategically to address a position of great need.
"This is a guy who studies the game and works at his trade," Bengals defensive coordinator Chuck Bresnahan said of Jackson. "He's all about winning. When we talked, the money had nothing to do with it. He wanted to know what our plan was about winning. He came in well informed and made a good decision for himself. I think this is going to be a beautiful marriage for us."
Jackson is an eighth-year player and was the MVP of Super Bowl XXXII when he intercepted two passes for Tampa Bay in its victory against Oakland. He has played all but one of his NFL seasons with Tampa Bay. He spent one season with Arizona and started a second (2004) on the injured reserve list before being released by the Cardinals. The Buccaneers brought him back, and he played in six games.
Jackson started 10 games for Tampa Bay in 2005 and played in an 11th. He missed five games with a hamstring injury. He was phased out for former Ohio State star Will Allen.
Jackson also started the Bucs' playoff loss to Washington, his seventh postseason game with five starts.
"I think (Lewis) brought me up here to work with the young guys," said Jackson, who has played in 88 games as a pro and has 14 interceptions. "A safety's job is to get everyone lined up . . . and take away the big runs and the big pass plays."
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Dexter Jackson file<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=storytext bgColor=#eeeeee>Position: Safety

Height/weight: 6 feet/210

NFL experience: Seven years - six with Tampa Bay, one with Arizona

Career stats: 88 games, 58 starts; 379 tackles, 14 interceptions, 43 passes broken up, five forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and 3½ sacks.

Highlight: Was voted MVP of Super Bowl XXXVII after intercepting two passes in Tampa Bay's victory against Oakland.

College: Florida State

Bengals: Signed four-year contract Monday
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<!--END: FACT BOX--><!--BEGIN: EXTERNAL LINKS--><!--END: EXTERNAL LINKS--><!--BEGIN: RELATED NEWS FROM WEB--><!--END: RELATED NEWS FROM WEB--><!--BEGIN: ADDITIONAL PHOTOS --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#838383> Free Agency: Day 3
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=storytext bgColor=#eeeeee>Visits confirmed by Bengals: Safety Will Demps, Ravens; safety Dexter Jackson, Buccaneers.

Visits confirmed by other sources: Quarterback Jamie Martin, Rams, will visit today.

The Bengals have discussed contracts with defensive tackles Sam Adams, Bills; and Grady Jackson, Packers, their agent, Angelo Wright, told The Enquirer Monday night. Neither player will visit teams, Wright said, "but will just pull the trigger and show up for offseason conditioning."

Going Bengals injury-plagued safety Kim Herring becomes a potential salary-cap cut with Jackson's signing. The Bengals would save $700,000 by letting Herring go.

Bengals quarterback Jon Kitna completed a visit to Detroit and met Monday with the Jets.

Gone Bengals tight end Matt Schobel will be in Philadelphia today to sign a five-year contract with the Eagles, the Eagles announced Monday.

--Mark Curnutte
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