Archive for February, 2009

Just as the Odell Thurman and Chris Henry stories did in 2007, the saga of T.J. Houshmandzadeh is overwhelming all other Bengals talk. The Chickster says the Bengals should let Houshmandzadeh go, though not without regrets. Kirk points out that he already turned down an offer last offseason. Over at Bengals Central, John Thornton reads the tea leaves and concludes T.J. will probably be allowed to seek his fortune. C. Trent (nice new look BTW) believes Housh is gone as well. The list of teams rumored to be interested continues to expand, with the Jaguars joining the Eagles, Seahawks, Giants [...]

Citing Andrew Brandt of the National Football Post, the Cincy Enquirer’s Joe Reedy reports that the Bengals have $28 million in cap space headed into the 2009 free-agent period. That would be the fifth-most space in the league. Given their high pick in the April draft, the Bengals’ rookie pool will likely be in the $5 million to $6 million range, and they typically prefer to keep $2 million or $3 million back as an injury reserve, so the team’s working number for March is probably closer to $20 million. Franchising T.J. Houshmandzadeh would slash that figure by close to [...]

It’s all T.J. Houshmandzadeh all the time right now as fans around the league wait to see if the Cincinnati Bengals slap the franchise tag on the player most view as the potential top wideout in free agency this year. Said Housh, “I can’t speak for them but I haven’t heard from them which would lead me to assume that I’m out of there,” but he also noted yesterday that, if the Bengals do use the tag, he doesn’t expect that they would do it before the Feb. 19 deadline. If the Bengals do let T.J. walk, it will undoubtedly [...]

Offensive tackle Michael Oher has surrendered his lead on the Cincinnati Bengals Mock Draft Big Board to fellow OT Eugene Monroe. Oher not only slips out of the top spot, but falls all the way to third behind the hard-charging Jason Smith. RB Chris Wells and LB Aaron Curry get bumps this update, but the mockosphere appears locked in on OT for the Bengals at 6, with 70 of 107 mocks tracked choosing that position. As always, the Big Board was assembled by combing through Fansided’s Mock Draft Database. It uses only mocks that have been updated in the past [...]

DT John Thornton makes the case that the Bengals will bounce back and into the postseason next year. It’s tough to argue with anything he says, except to say it reminds me of a lot of what I wrote before last season. Cincinnati was supposed to have improved chemistry last season, too, with multiple units finally returning the same or mostly the same starters for at least the second straight year. Young players like Eric Ghiacuic and Stacy Andrews were talked up as on the cusp of breakout seasons. And of course we had plenty of names coming off the [...]

Are you a Bengals fan? If so, Cincinnati Enquirer sports columnist Paul “Doc” Daugherty thinks you’re a moron. Hey, right back at ya, Doc. His Monday column oozes contempt for Bengals fans who continue to purchase season tickets. Two season ticket holders, Debbie Kincaid and Jenny Coloado, speak with Daugherty and for their troubles are mocked as enablers of owner Mike Brown. This comes on the heels of a January 23rd column suggesting Bengals fans are mentally ill. I suppose that everyone is entitled to their opinion, and in truth Daugherty doesn’t say anything that hasn’t been said for years [...]

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson says he will participate in the team’s voluntary offseason program. Ocho Cinco told bengals.com that he will be there “whenever they want us there.” Johnson also reiterated his claim that fellow wideout T.J. Houshmandzadeh wants to return, and that he wants him back. All this ought to be music to Bengals fans’ ears after last offseason, which featured Ocho Bozo and his traveling trade me act. With the exception of a better offensive line, there’s little that would get the offense back on track faster than a rejuvenated passing game. There’s been no word [...]