Bengals Keep Blake as Backup After All

The Cincinnati Bengals unexpectedly decided to keep former starting quarterback Jeff Blake on their roster.

The Bengals reportedly tried to trade Blake after Neil O’Donnell won the starting job in the third exhibition game. They also asked him to restructure his contract and take less than the $1.95 million he’ll get in base salary this year, but he declined.

The Bengals chose to keep him anyway after Paul Justin struggled in the exhibition finale against Atlanta.

*

Cary Blanchard, a Pro Bowl kicker for Indianapolis 1996, was cut by Coach Jim Mora for the third time in his career. Blanchard, third in field goals (87) in Colt history and eighth in scoring (334 points), lost out to rookie Mike Vanderjagt, a leading kicker in the Canadian Football League the past two years. Blanchard had been cut twice by Mora when he was coaching at New Orleans. . . . The New York Jets settled their kicking competition by releasing Brett Conway, a former Green Bay draft pick, in favor of incumbent John Hall, who set a league record last year with 29 touchbacks on kickoffs.