S Wilson close with Tampa Bay

The St. Petersburg Times reports that unrestricted free agent safety Eugene Wilson, most recently of the Patriots, is close to a deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Bengals had expressed some interest in Wilson but might have been concerned about Wilson's injury history the past two seasons.

Two weeks into veteran free agency, the Bengals now appear to be focused on trying to bring back wide receiver Tab Perry, to whom they did not extend a qualifying offer as a restricted free agent, thus releasing him into free agency. Perry has drawn significant interest from Miami, Baltimore and Green Bay, as well. Perry has played in just four games in the past two years because of a recurring hip injury.

In addition, the Bengals are very interested in possibly signing Colts tight end Ben Utecht to an offer sheet. He is a restricted free agent -- three credited seasons but unsigned. The Colts gave him a $967,000 one-year qualifying offer as a restricted free agency, which gives them one week to decide whether to match an offer sheet Utecht might sign with another team.

Bengals coach Marvin Lewis had said last month that the team was interested in adding a receiving-oriented tight end to the mix with starting tight end Reggie Kelly, who is more of a blocker.