Though agent Jim Steiner recently said that he intended to talk to the Bengals last week about the possible contract for running back Shaun Alexander, Mark Curnutte of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that no talks have occurred.

“Nothing yet,” Steiner told Curnutte on Friday.

Curnutte also says that the addition of Alexander is unlikely, given the presence of Rudi Johnson, Chris Perry, Kenny Watson, and DeDe Dorsey on the roster. 

In our view, the Bengals would seriously sniff around Alexander only if they were planning to displace Johnson.  But Curnutte writes that the Bengals plan to keep Johnson as the featured back.

So why then did the Bengals bring in Alexander?  Maybe they were hoping to light a little bit of an offseason fire under Johnson. 

Or maybe they wanted a national story about the team that didn’t include the names “Chad Johnson” or “Chris Henry.”