The Bengals got the ball rolling on signing draft picks by agreeing to contracts with two picks on Wednesday and they got up to four on Thursday.
The team announced that fifth-round quarterback A.J. McCarron and seventh-round cornerback Lavelle Westbrooks have joined the previously signed Marquis Flowers and James Wright. That leaves the Bengals halfway through the draft class.
McCarron won a pair of national titles while at Alabama and said before the draft that he’d been told he had a first-round grade by multiple teams. Those remarks reportedly didn’t sit well with some teams and McCarron had to settle for being the second quarterback off the board in the fifth round. He’ll compete with Jason Campbell to be the backup to Andy Dalton this season.
Westbrooks has loads of experience as a starter at Georgia Southern, but the Bengals have depth at cornerback after taking Darqueze Dennard in the first round. That would leave special teams as Westbrook’s clearest path to the roster.