Akili on his way out?

[PA Season Ticket Holder]

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bengals are considering a move that would change the landscape at quarterback and make three players happy in the process.

The club has an interest in signing former Miamisburg High School and Vanderbilt University star Greg Zolman. If that would happen, it will likely trigger the release of 1999 first-round draft pick Akili Smith.

Releasing Smith would allow Carson Palmer, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2003 NFL Draft, to become the top backup to starter Jon Kitna.

Zolman, who spent time with Indianapolis, Green Bay and Tampa Bay as a non-drafted rookie in 2002, would compete with former Eaton High School and Indiana University quarterback Tommy Jones for the No. 3 job.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/sports/content/sports/daily/0521bengals.html

[Gunzlingr]

Akili Smith's days with the Bengals might be dwindling to a few.

As of June 1, the Bengals can release Smith - or any other player - and count a share of their remaining amortized signing bonus against the salary cap in 2004.

Smith, the Bengals' first-round draft choice and the third overall in 1999, knows his time could be drawing to an end in Cincinnati.

"I have no idea what's going to happen," Smith said Wednesday after an on-field coaching session at Paul Brown Stadium. "I'm walking around here as lightly as heck.

"It's driving me crazy. I can't focus on what I need to focus on. I don't know what they're thinking, what they're looking at, and I'm putting a lot of pressure on myself because they're capable of cutting me. I'm here, I'm working hard, and the next thing you know, you're cut. It's hard."

At issue is whether coach Marvin Lewis and his staff are comfortable with Smith as the top backup to starter Jon Kitna. Lewis named Kitna the starter, and the organization invested the first overall pick in this year's draft in Carson Palmer.

If coaches think Palmer is capable of playing sooner than later this season, he could be the No. 2 quarterback, though the plan remains for him to sit this year.

The Bengals would like Smith to earn the No. 2 job, but they are not commenting directly on his future

more (http://bengals.enquirer.com/2003/05/22/bengals22mainbar.html)