The Bengals today signed free agent DE Michael Johnson to a four-year contract. Johnson played in Tampa Bay last season after spending his first five NFL campaigns with the Bengals.
Johnson (6-7, 270; Georgia Tech) is a seventh-year NFL player in 2015. He played 79 games with 45 starts for the Bengals from 2009-13. He was designated as the Bengals' franchise player for 2013, after logging 11.5 sacks and an interception in 2012. He led the '13 Bengals defensive line in tackles (74) and had 33 QB pressures with 3.5 sacks.
He went to Tampa Bay as a free agent for 2014 and weathered some injury problems while playing in 14 games with 13 starts. He had 4.0 sacks and two forced fumbles for the Bucs, who released him this past week.
"Our entire organization is just ecstatic about getting Mike back," said Bengals' head coach Marvin Lewis. "He's earned tremendous respect from coaches, teammates and management. He did tremendous things for us while he was here, and we look forward to having him blend back in and uplift us as defensive football team."
Johnson played in 79 of a possible 80 regular-season games with the Bengals from 2009-13, and he also played in all four Cincinnati postseason games during that span. He had 26.5 sacks and 27 passes defensed as a Bengal.
