THE DEAL FOR DEX: BENGALS SHAKE UP DRAFT FIRST ROUND
Bengals assistant general manager Trey Brown, one of the myriads of people on all sides of the NFL aisles who helped put Dexter Lawrence II in what he's already calling those "nice unis," met him Sunday in the locker room with a handshake and a scouting report just as robust.
"Love the tape. You've been dominant for a long time," Brown told him, and that's exactly what the Bengals have been looking for since last season ended.
The biggest Bengals' trade in 15 years (sending Carson Palmer to the Raiders) and their biggest first-round shakeup in 31 years (trading up to overall draft No. 1 to draft Penn State running back Ki-Jana Carter) wasn't all a lightning bolt.
Brown, along with his fellow point man in free agency, assistant general manager Steven Radicevic, also spent weeks sending out trade feelers for dominant defenders such as Lawrence. Even as they signed four new starters or regulars in free agency last month, they kept going to the phones. | 
