Don’t burn your Ocho Cinco jerseys yet. Chad Johnson will be a familiar sight in Bengal stripes for years to come.What Bengal fan doesn’t have the right to be upset with Chad these days? In the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, Johnson made the Cincinnati Bengals’ organization look like organized crime. Johnson found every national media outlet possible to complain about coaches who “stopped speaking to him,” teammates who “don’t have his back,” and fans who “want to run him out of town.”
But Bengals’ head coach Marvin Lewis said it best: “There is no such thing as behind-the-door dealings in the NFL. That does not occur because the team in question (the Bengals) is not willing to trade their player, nor have they thought about trading their player or discussed trading their player, nor will they discuss trading their player.”
Lewis has fed us a lot of garbage over the years. He’s been mum on injuries and has never directly answered a press question. Fans have rightfully so been hard on Lewis at times for in-game decisions and for some of his players’ lack of discipline, but the way he has dealt with his star wide receiver’s unhappiness has been near perfect.
What fans, media, and even Chad himself don’t seem to comprehend is that he has no control whatsoever over where he’ll be playing next season. Johnson still has multiple years left on his contract with the Bengals, meaning no matter how much he complains, the Bengals make the only decision about if, when, and with whom Johnson will play football.
For what reason would the Bengals trade the player who has the most receiving yards since 2003? Because he’s unhappy? Wrong.
Like it or not, the National Football League is no democracy. Although they aren’t as vocal as Chad, there are players on all 32 teams who are unhappy and wanting to play elsewhere. Everybody can not and will not find the perfect situation.
Why else would you trade Chad? Because we have T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Chris Henry? Wrong again. T.J. is not a proven primary wide receiver; he’s always had Chad to steal some of the attention off him. Henry simply can’t be trusted to stay out of trouble on and off the field.
The Bengals’ offense has been created to operate with three down-field wide receiving threats; you can’t take any of quarterback Carson Palmer’s weapons away.
Going into the 2008 season, the Bengals appear to have another weak defense, meaning the offense will have to carry the load. They’re going to need all the help they can get.
The only scenarios that would satisfy a trade of Chad Johnson are as follows: A guaranteed early first round draft pick coupled with either a late first round or early second round pick, or a young and proven defensive player coupled with two late round draft picks.
Only a few NFL teams have the ability to produce such a deal, and the ones who can are smart enough not to do it.
The Bengals had a tough 2007 campaign, leaving them with few bright spots to dwell on going into next season. One of those few bright spots is the dangerous quarterback/wide receiver combination of Palmer and Johnson. Only a fool would break that up.
In all reality, we know that Chad really doesn’t want to go anywhere. We know that Chad is the type of player who wears his “emotions on his sleeve.” Chad is tired of losing, like everyone else, and is going the wrong way about voicing his opinion concerning the situation.
Johnson has told the world he doesn’t want to leave Cincinnati through his own contradictions. Chad says he only wants to go somewhere and win. He has also hinted about wanting to play for the Miami Dolphins. Why would a player who “only wants to win” leave a team who is only a few defensive players away from becoming a contender, and go to a team that won only one game last season, and doesn’t even have a quarterback?
Should we worry about Ocho Cinco’s play next season? Of course not. Chad is a competitor; he may not be happy with his situation, but his pride won’t let his play suffer. Chad talks too much to go out and embarrass himself.
The only way Chad finds employment elsewhere in the NFL next season is if Carson charges into team President Mike Brown’s office and says: “Get rid of him.