The Bengals have always been the front-runner

Rosenhaus pointed out on NFL Network's "NFL Total Access"  that the receiver hasn't signed anything yet, although he admitted it "looks like a formality at this point." Rosenhaus expects the deal to be finalized Wednesday night or Thursday morning.

On his Twitter account, all Owens would say was, "Hoping 2 b a Bengal w/in the 24hrs!!" He later said: "Ocho Uno is coming 2 town!! Hey Robin, Batman will b there soon!"

Players are required to report for the start of Bengals training camp Wednesday in Georgetown, Ky. According to The Cincinnati Enquirer, Owens isn't expected to attend the morning practice Thursday, but he likely will show up for the night session.

Rosenhaus said the Bengals were Owens' first choice, giving him a chance to team with close friend Chad Ochocinco, who already has dubbed the pair Batman and Robin. The Bengals made an offer Monday, and Owens accepted it one day later, after the St. Louis Rams dropped out of the running.

"The Bengals have always been the front-runner," Rosenhaus told The Associated Press. "Even though I talked to some other teams during this process, the Bengals have always been the team that showed the most interest. Terrell has always been excited about them."

The Bengals gave Owens a tryout in March, but they decided to sign Andre Smith Antonio Bryant to a four-year, $28 million contract instead. Although he said on NFL Network that he doesn't have "direct knowledge" of the situation, Rosenhaus believes Bryant's health status played a role in the Bengals chasing Owens.

Bryant has been slowed by knee surgery, and NFL.com's Steve Wyche, citing a source with knowledge of the situation, reported Tuesday that some within the Bengals' organization already feel a semblance of buyer's remorse.

Coach Marvin Lewis denied last week that the Bengals football jerseys needed Owens, telling the team's official Web site, "I don't want to speak (about Terrell). We've been down that road. I don't have a concern that we need to add anybody (at receiver)." But Lewis changed his tune this week.

"I think really we're adding a player who has been extremely productive throughout his career and really compliments the guys that we have offensively already," Lewis said Tuesday on NFL Network. "But really, when Terrell didn't sign, obviously they still had the interest and the attraction. I'm glad it was able to work out. It makes for the greater good of the football team."

The quarterback position in the NFL has, over the course of the past decade and change, become the singular most important position on the football field. Teams that are perennially in the front of the pack chasing postseason success have one common denominator: a tough-as-nails quarterback. Even if a team doesn't have a guy like Manning or Brady with a "rocket laser arm" and an apparent infrared guidance system for his throws, a guy like (and it pains me to say it) Ben Roethlisberger who can't necessarily make every single throw but has the moxie and poise to will his team into the end zone is a must.

In April of 2003, the Bengals got their guy. A sharp-looking prodigy of Norm Chow out of USC, Carson Palmer arrived hand-in-hand with Marvin Lewis as the apparent saviors of the new Cincinnati Bengals jerseys. I'm not going to rehash the events that have transpired since then, for that would be overkill as we inundate you with these previews of the rapidly-upcoming season.