The word comes late tonight and the team doesn’t confirm it as if it is too much to process. But the agents do as the impact of new Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis is immediately felt in the first hours of free agency with verbal agreements from valued and respected locker-room pros in defensive tackle John Thornton and middle linebacker Kevin Hardy. The Bengals have never dropped money like this so quickly and expensively, but they are all in to help Lewis change the culture to the tune of $10 million in money this year for the pair as Hardy signs a four-year deal worth about $15 million and Thornton pulls down $22.
TDBH: Lewis bids to change culture with free-agent double as Thornton, Hardy agree to terms
