Antonio Bryant Released by Bengals

The Bengals cut wide receiver Antonio Bryant on Sunday, ending Bryant's very brief and ill-fated time in Cincinnati.

Bryant, 29, signed a four-year, $28 million contract with Cincinnati this offseason -- a deal that included roughly $7 million in guaranteed money, which Bryant will collect. Bryant never played a down for the Bengals, though, as he sat out their first three 2010 preseason games with a lingering knee injury.

During that time, recently-signed Terrell Owens leapfrogged Bryant on the depth chart, and rookie Jordan Shipley began seeing more playing time -- Shipley had five catches for 38 yards in the Bengals' 35-20 loss to Buffalo on Saturday.

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Bryant had targeted a Week 1 return from his left knee injury, one that bothered him throughout 2009 with the Bucs. He had passed a physical at the start of training camp. That prevented Cincinnati from placing him on the Physically Unable to Perform list, which would have kept him sidelined for several weeks but also opened a roster spot. Instead, Cincinnati had to choose between waiting out Bryant's injury, placing him on injured reserve -- thus ending his season -- or releasing him.

Now that the Bengals have selected Option C, Bryant finds himself back on the free-agent market.