The Bengals have signed third-round pick Frostee Rucker to a four-year contract Sunday. Rucker is one of four Bengals arrested in the last two months. Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed. The 6-foot-3, 263-pound Rucker was charged last month with two counts of spousal battery and vandalism in Los Angeles. Prosecutors said Rucker's girlfriend suffered minor injuries at a party he hosted last year. Convictions on the misdemeanor charges could carry a sentence of up to three years in jail. Rucker has denied the allegations.

Bengals middle linebacker Odell Thurman has been suspended for the first four games of the season for violating the NFL's substance-abuse policies. "It's very disappointing to us that Odell has this misconduct with league policies," coach Marvin Lewis said. "I am very disappointed. It's something that he needs to get in line in his life." The 23 year old was a second-round pick from Georgia, had 1.5 sacks and led the team in tackles in nine games last season.

The Cincinnati Bengals reached agreement with left tackle Levi Jones on a six-year contract extension worth just over $40 million, sources close to the deal confirmed. The contract, expected to be signed Tuesday night, will make Jones the game's fourth-highest paid offensive tackle, behind Walter Jones, Jonathan Ogden and Orlando Pace. It includes $16.3 million worth of guaranteed money.

Officers trying to arrest Bengals defensive tackle Matthias Askew after a parking violation used a Taser to subdue him and charged him with resisting arrest. The 24-year-old Askew struggled with officers trying to handcuff him Saturday evening and broke away before he was shocked, police spokesman Lt. Tom Lanter said. Askew ignored an officer's warning to move his illegally parked car and then refused to give his identification, Lanter said. Askew, also charged with obstructing official business, was released on his own recognizance and was scheduled to appear in court Monday, a jail official said.

Bengals owner Mike Brown defended the team's decision to take another player with a troubled background in the NFL's supplemental draft, a move that has raised questions about the team's standards. The Bengals chose linebacker Ahmad Brooks in the supplemental draft Thursday. Brooks played at Virginia for three seasons, but was later kicked off the team. The university didn't give specifics about the decision.

The tumultuous offseason of the Bengals continued Thursday when two league sources and one source close to Odell Thurman confirmed that the starting middle linebacker has been suspended for four games for a violation of the NFL's substance abuse policy.

The Bengals jumped in front of the 49ers and other teams to select Ahmad Brooks in the third round of the supplemental draft. Brooks was considered a first-round pick before having troubles at the U. of Virginia. He suffered a knee injury and some off-field problems led him to being kicked off the team. He was the only player taken among seven available in the supplemental draft. The other six became free agents when they were not chosen and may sign with any team.

In what could be his first of several court dates in coming months, Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry, arrested in mid-June for the fourth time since December, will stand trial on September 26 on three counts of unlawful transactions with a minor. The trial date, which comes just two days after the Bengals face the Steelers in the third game of the 2006 season for the bitter AFC North rivals, was set by Kenton County (Ky.) District Court Judge Douglas Grothaus, who had presided over the earlier hearings in the latest legal entanglement involving the troubled wide receiver. He faces up to a year in jail, and a $500 fine, if convicted of the charges.