James Harrison visited Steelers rival Bengals on Thursday

According to USA Today Sports, James Harrison visited with the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday, as a candidate for their open SAM position which was vacated by Manny Lawson who has recently joined the Buffalo Bills.

Harrison will be the third outside linebacker to visit the team this week, after they also met with Karlos Dansby and Akeem Jordan.

While Harrison was feared by the entire NFL during his entire career in Pittsburgh, where won a Defensive Player of the Year award; evidently the only one's who still respect his ability to invoke such fear are those who have experienced it the most - the AFC North.

Harrison visited with Baltimore in late March, but left without officially meeting with the team to negotiate. The Ravens filled their need with accidentally-former-Broncos pass rusher Elvis Dumervil. Harrison has not officially garnered interest from any other team since leaving Baltimore empty-handed.

No word yet as to whether Cincinnati offered contracts to any of their visitors, however Harrison could be a good fit, despite the philosophical differences between the Steelers 3-4 and the Bengals 4-3.

With Pittsburgh having already gone on record to denounce any chances of Harrison returning by claiming a closed door after he was unwilling to negotiate a paycut, the Bengals could be Harrison's best chance to continue his career at the age of 35. His familiarity with the division already makes him an asset.

If he should fail to land the Bengals job, perhaps we should expect a visit to the Cleveland Browns soon; especially considering Colt McCoy is no longer around.