Report: Cincinnati Bengals End Talks with James Harrison, Focus on Karlos Dansby

Tuesday night, Adam Schefter reported via Twitter that talks between the Cincinnati Bengals and linebacker James Harrison would continue, but it did not look like the numbers would work.

Wednesday afternoon added yet another turn of events in the saga between the two sides.

NFL.com's Ian Rapoport tweeted at 1:36 p.m. EST that talks between the Bengals and Harrison have officially broken off. He added that the Bengals are likely to pursue free-agent linebacker Karlos Dansby going forward.

This is a significant change after yesterday's reports indicated that talks were not going well (via USA Today). Even after that gloomy report, there was still a glimmer of hope that both sides would be able to work something out.

Now, it appears things have ended completely.

With the Bengals now steering away from 35-year-old Harrison—who should be a better fit in a 3-4 defensive scheme anyway—they now turn to the 31-year-old Dansby.

Dansby is coming off his best season of his nine-year career after recording 134 tackles with the Miami Dolphins in 2012.

As Rapoport stated, there has not been any immediate action between the Bengals and Dansby, but expect a change in that regard in the very near future.

Being that Harrison's asking price seemed to be a determining factor in this contract dispute, it should be interesting to see what kind of deal is offered to the younger, more productive Dansby.