Bengals Chatter - The unofficial blog of the Cincinnati Bengals, recaping game by game along with opinion articles and community for Jungle fans to chat away.
Now that Chris Henry is facing assault charges with his 5th arrest since 2005, the Bengals have decided not to put up with him any longer, Henry is now a free agent.
I can only say that I wish it didn't have to come to this, he had a LOT of potential and could of been a great receiver. However, I'm glad the Bengals didn't give him "another" chance, a waste of talent.
Receiver Situation
As much sense as it does to cut ties with Chris Henry, for good, the receiver situation in Cincinnati is not good at all.
Chad Johnson
T.J. Houshmandzadeh
Antonio Chatman
Glenn Holt
Marcus Maxwell
With Chad wanting out of Cincinnati badly, if he goes, the situation goes from worse to very bad. Without Henry and CJ, the offense is severely hurt.
Unfortunately I just think Chad is going to be too big of a problem and distraction, but unless we can draft a fairly good receiver in the Draft and get some serious talent in return for CJ, it would be tough to trade him.
Now drafting a WR may happen much earlier than expected.
A must see video for Bengals fans. It seems every time Chad talks, you get more and more discouraged with him. Now with Chris Henry, if true, who knows how long he could be out of the NFL (if not forever) and Chad Johnson, not good.
Cincy Jungle has some good comments about this, check it out.
I just heard the breaking news that Chris Henry has been charged with assault. There isn't much information right now, except that Henry is claiming "mistaken identity" and that the victim was 18 years old.
Here are some details:
"Henry is accused of punching another man in the head, then throwing a
beer bottle at the victim's car, breaking a window. A complaint was
sworn out against Henry on Wednesday."
On at least two occassions, accusations made against Chris Henry turned out to be false, so let's hope it's the case again.
For yet another time, Marvin Lewis said that Chad Johnson is and will be a Cincinnati Bengal.
It seems like he has to say that once a week. This time he said that Chad will be a Bengal and if he doesn't want to be, he will have to make his "threat" become real, retire. Here are a few tidbits of his comments of the Chad Johnson fiasco:
"We've been dealing with this inside for over a year and we'll be prepared to move on"
"He has a contract through 2011. If he plays NFL football it will be in
Cincinnati, or he has to do what he says and that's retire. That would
be a shame. We'll do everything we can to help him out of this and try
to restore his image."
"Unfortunately Chad put himself in that situation. A lot of people who
really had an affection for him fan-wise and people around the league
see him in a different light and that's unfortunate. Some of the things
he's gone on record and said one way or the other he's going to have to
deal with them one way or the other. ... He's said he's probably going
to sit out. I think you've got to own up and do it. Hopefully he'll do
what Kobe Bryant did this year. He had a very accomplished season
(after his trade demands). The Cincinnati Bengals hold the cards
through the 2011 season."
Interesting remarks, checkout the full article here.
Finally we have a decent pass-catching Tight End, finally! I know it
hasn't been a top concern, but it has and is something that is
important to the offense.
It seems that the restricted free agent
did not have the Bengals deal of 3 years-$9 million matched by the
Colts. Ben Utecht will be a backup to Reggie Kelly.
Utecht had 37
catches in 06 and 31 in 07, the last Bengals Tight End to have 30
catches in a season was Tony McGee - that was in 1997.
Chad Johnson
Oh and by the way, apparently Chad Johnson will not be showing up for the Off-season Training - Story. I know, a shocker.
I've tried to be somewhat balanced and neutral here at Bengals Chatter, but I have to speak up about Chad Johnson.
Last year a lot of people thought Chad Johnson was a big reason for the Bengals losing season, he wasn't. There was an incident with the Bengals playoff game in 2005, but I do believe Chad that he didn't throw a punch. However Chad Johnson's basically has been asking for a trade (without saying it) all off-season and I am tired of it.
I seriously don't know what he is doing. Before this he was a VERY popular person in Cincinnati, I'd say 9/10 people liked him and had good standing overall, his worst offense being a big smack talker. Now most everyone in Cincinnati is ticked off (a lot don't know the things he's said) and he looks like a Terrell Owens, not good.
Now it's come out that Chad Johnson wants to be a Cowboy. Is this guy serious? So the Bengals have one losing season (1 short of being 8-8) and he wants out all of a sudden and won't even say whether he wants to be here? It's like Bengals fans never get a break.
The Bengals welcomed there 8th Linebacker to the team, Darryl Blackstock. He was signed to a one year deal of $520,000 and a $40,000 bonus. No one spectacular, Stats Inc. has some thoughts:
Blackstock is aggressive and explosive. He has an excellent first step and initial burst. He displays good overall quickness and play speed. He can blow up ball carriers. He can be devastating when moving forward and attacking downhill. But Blackstock isn't very agile, mature or prepared for a 4-3 scheme. He needs to become a better worker, especially because he has so many adjustments to make from his playing style as a college 3-4 linebacker. He is accustomed to being an upfield player. He looks a little stiff when playing in reverse. He must improve his instincts, particularly in coverage. He can be a step late to react and loses leverage on ball carriers.
Eight linebackers, by the way, does include in-limbo Odell Thurman and David Pollack.
Shaun Alexander
In other news, Cincy Jungle has a posting quoting the very smart John Clayton, from ESPN, discussing the possibility of the Bengals picking up Seahawks disappointing Shaun Alexander.
Yeah, just what we need. Let's get rid of Rudi Johnson after a single disappointing year for a guy with two disappointing years in a row. Heck, it'd be a better idea to draft a running back then get an over-the-hill running back.
The single position the Bengals struggled terribly with last year the most, has let go possibly it's best player at linebacker, Landon Johnson. The problems were so bad the Bengals were literally signing free agent linebackers to replace former free agent LB's that got injured. We let go Landon Johnson, seriously?
This is the one free agent of all three that I don't understand. Madieu Williams got a hugely overpriced contract, alright. Justin Smith was, well overrated and mediocre to his $ worth and the quality that was expected. But Landon Johnson, who was offered a 3 year, $10 million deal and had over 100 tackles each the past 2 years. A position of all, that needs the stability the most. I don't get it.
Former Titan DE Antwan Odom has been signed to a deal with the Bengals, in the range of $30 million. After a failed attempt at trading for Shaun Rogers and Dewayne Robertson, the Bengals were finally able to secure a solid defensive lineman which was much in need.
Shaun Rogers would of been a good pickup, but in the end the Bengals may just have signed the best out of the three lineman. Shaun Rogers has had problems not only with motivation, but being in shape. (see: sam adams) Dewayne Robertson simply was a case of the Bengals actually asking him to take a pay cut, which was stupid. Was he overpaid? Maybe, but gives him reasons to look at other teams.
Antwan Odom recorded 8 sacks in his first season as a Tennessee Titan.
Okay so for some reason we didn't re-sign a young and talented safety in Madieu Williams, so the Vikings signed a 6 year 33 million deal. Then news breaks that Bengals have signed DT Shaun Rogers from the Lions. Then it breaks that the deal feel through (another words Mike Brown screwed it up, well okay the NFL denied the trade) and Rogers is a cleveland brown.
How could it get worse? Justin Smith signed a 6 year 45 million deal with the 49ers. So now we're down our best safety and our best defensive end and we have nothing to show for it.
Last year was bad, okay. So now so far we are down two of our best defensive players (im not a fan of Smith, but only let him go if you can replace him) and haven't signed a big player or anyone of substance. Let's hope we can get some good signings.
