According to ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter, the Cincinnati Bengals have signed Houston Texans free agent cornerback Jason Allen.

@AdamSchefter

Adam SchefterAnd now the Bengals also have signed Jason Allen.

Allen is a seven-year veteran who spent the first five years of his career with the Miami Dolphins and the last two with the Houston Texans. In his career, he has 244 tackles, 33 passes defensed and 15 interceptions. He only started in four games for the Texans in 2011 and the former first-round pick in the 2006 draft had a Pro Football Focus grade of 2.2 last season (2.3 in run defense and -0.3 in pass coverage).

ESPN's (In$ider) scouting report gives Allen a grade of 63 out of 100 and says the following:

Allen is a tall cornerback with good straight-line speed but it is difficult for him to flip his hips to turn and run with receivers on go routes. He tends to be a little sloppy in transition and will take too long to redirect and drive on balls thrown in front of him. He knows how to use his size and arm length to compete for passes shows good ball skills. He needs to be more physical on run support and become more of a student of route recognition and reading the quarterback from off coverage.

Cornerback is a major area of need for the Bengals. Leon Hall is attempting to come back from a season-ending Achilles injury and Nate Clements is going to be 32 years old this season. Since Adam Jones and Kelly Jennings are both free agents, the team's signing of a corner in free agency is not a surprise at all and the Bengals are still expected to select a cornerback in the upcoming draft, possibly in the first round.

This is the Bengals second signing in one day after being quiet for the first few days of free agency. It will be interesting to see how this signing affects the team's motivation to go after and sign either Tracy Porter or Aaron Ross.

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