[Batpuff]

The Bengals’ quest for a backup quarterback got very interesting Thursday with the addition of Brian Griese and Patrick Ramsey as candidates as the market now mushrooms with more options than earlier in the week.

The agent for Tampa Bay's Griese confirmed his client is headed to Cincinnati for a visit and physical Friday, the day before his 31st birthday. After talking with Bengals officials, Ralph Cindrich said Thursday he's satisfied both Griese and the Bengals have a legit interest in each other in an "intriguing situation."

The Bergen Record reported that the Bengals are in the mix mulling a trade for the Redskins' Ramsey.

The developments suggest the Bengals are also considering the more high-rent and the more established route as well as the journeyman backup tact.

"We view him and other teams view him as more than a backup quarterback," said Cindrich, who says Griese is going to Chicago after Cincinnati. "But this is a situation where it's a good team with a hell of an offense, and it's time for him to get out there."

Cindrich said the Bengals have told him they aren’t sure when Palmer can come back from reconstructive knee surgery. They don’t know if he’ll be ready by the opener, by mid-October, or somewhere in between. Which makes it tough on Griese, who led the Bucs to a 5-1 start before suffering season-ending ligament damage that wasn’t as severe as Palmer’s injury.

“If they’re 5-1 or 6-1, I’m sure they would still probably go back to (Palmer),” Cindrich said. “There’s no question once they got to know (Griese), they’d love him. He’s a smart guy.

"Obviously, not knowing how much he'd play doesn't make it as attractive."

Cindrich, who dealt with the Bengals on Jeff Blake back in the day, has had some of his clients work with Zeke Bratkowski and Ernie Zampese, the fathers of Bengals offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski and quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese.

“He really likes the system there,” Cindrich said. "Those are quarterback guys."

The Bucs look to be fading, but Cindrich has also had calls from Oakland, Minnesota and Baltimore, spots where he could become established. But if those fall through ...

Griese, like Palmer, tore the ACL and MCL in his left knee Oct. 16 against Miami. Cindrich said he could have come back and played, but opted for surgery and is 100 percent for minicamp.

Before his injury, Griese, who has a 39-33 record as a starter, completed 64 percent of his passes and had a 79.6 passer rating with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Ramsey, the Redskins' first-round pick in 2002 when Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis was their defensive coordinator, fell out of favor with head coach Joe Gibbs quickly last season when he was pulled for Mark Brunell at halftime of the opener. Lewis reportedly has a high opinion of Ramsey, but talks don't seem to be yielding much with the Bengals or the Jets.

Teams know the Redskins have to jettison Ramsey's $1.7 million salary and aren't anxious to give Washington the fifth-round pick they reportedly want if they are going to have to cut him instead.

[BFritz]

I guess it would be smart to have a back-up plan, but I'm still convinced that Palmer will be back for the opener.  I'm afraid that the Bengals will trade away some of this amazing team to get something that they don't need.