More Drama at Wideout

If it isn’t Chad Ocho Cinco (nee Johnson) whining for a trade, it’s T.J. Houshmandzadeh continuing his “don’t tag me” campaign:

Houshmandzadeh said last month he doesn’t think the Bengals are going to use the franchise tag on him to keep him in Cincinnati, a one-year offer of the top five paid receivers in the league that would give the Bengals the right to match any offer and get a first- and third-round pick if they didn’t.

With the working number somewhere between $9-10 million, Houshmandzadeh admits he wouldn’t mind getting the lump sum. But after seeing the Bengals use the tag on defensive end Justin Smith for a year before letting him walk and anticipating they’ll do the same with right tackle Stacy Andrews this year, he doesn’t like the one-and-done aspect.

“It would be cool, but it wouldn’t be cool,” Houshmandzadeh said. “You just want to know what is going to happen (long-term).”

Let’s cut to the chase: will there be a long-term deal between the Bengals and T.J.? No. Will the Bengals hit him with the tag next year? Yes. Will T.J. chafe under the designation and pull an “Ocho Bozo”? No, he’s far more media-savvy — but he will continue his habit of blowing off all non-mandatory OTAs in the offseason for a third year.

And finally: how much of this is about money, and how much is about T.J. wanting out? Just my opinion, but I believe it’s far more the latter than the former. Of course T.J. wants to get paid, but his behavior during the last couple of offseasons strongly suggests he’s not all that interested in hanging around. Were the Bengals to break the bank for him, he’d sign, but they won’t and he knows it.

But they still have the tag, and in the kabuki theater that is the NFL, it’s his job to complain about it, and the Bengals’ job to remain coy about using it, even though all parties involved know how this will actually play out.