NFL - Sports Rumors - Cincinnati Bengals

Getty Images

Chad Johnson wants out of Cincinnati and out of his number 85 jersey. Now city radio station WGRR is giving Cincinnati Bengals fans a chance to express their opinion about Johnson and his comments about playing for the Bengals. It's called the 103.5 WGRR "85 Trade Off."

On Tuesday, April 29, Cincinnati Bengals supporters can bring their Chad Johnson jersey to Koch's Sporting Goods on Fourth Street from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and WGRR will swap them for a pair of playoff tickets to see the winning Cincinnati Cyclones hockey team.

Traded-in number 85 jerseys will go to charity and fans who donate their jerseys will be in the running to win a jersey of their choice from a local sporting goods store.

Source: wcpo.com

• 172 Comments
• Permanent Link
• Email this Entry

Getty Images

Profootballtalk.com, quoting an unnamed league source, reported Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson is serious about staying away fromt the team, despite the cost.

It won't be cheap, if that's what Johnson chooses to do. The daily fines for holdouts exceed $14,000 per day. Also, he would be required to pay back 25 percent of his signing bonus proration for 2008, if he misses even as little as one mandatory day. But holding out and paying the money might actually be a better outcome for Johnson than showing up. Because we can't imagine Johnson not acting out and ultimately getting suspended four games for conduct detrimental to the team, which would end up costing him a lot more.

If the Bengals persist in their refusal to trade Johnson, his only other option is to retire. Though doing so would avoid the fines, he also would have to pay back the full amount of all remaining signing bonus proration. Then again, he can continue to huff and puff about holding out, and he might truly intend to do it right now, but when he's staring down that daily price tag of 14 grand, he might feel very differently about it all.

Source: Profootballtalk.com

• 110 Comments
• Permanent Link
• Email this Entry

Getty Images

For weeks now, the Cincinnati Bengals have said they won't give in to Chad Johnson's trade demand and deal the wide receiver. On Tuesday, they proved it. The Bengals turned down a confirmed offer from the Washington Redskins, who were willing to give up their first-round pick Saturday — the 21st overall — and a conditional third-round pick in 2009 that could have been elevated to a first-rounder based on Johnson's 2008 performance.

Bengals coach Marvin Lewis, in a pre-draft news conference late Tuesday morning, said the Bengals had not received any trade offers for Johnson. Then Lewis reversed course and said the team did receive an offer from the Redskins but turned it down. And when asked if Johnson's threat not to play would affect the team's draft plans this weekend, Lewis said no. Then he challenged Johnson to follow through on his threat to sit out the season.

"I think he has made it clear he's not going to play, and that's what I've been aware of since the end of last season," Lewis said of Johnson. "I think it's time to do what you say you're going to do, and we'll move forward. He has a contract through 2011. He stated (that) without an opportunity to go to another team with a new contract, he wasn't going to play. I think he's a man of his word, and says he's not going to play, so don't play."

Source: Cincinnati Enquirer

• 142 Comments
• Permanent Link
• Email this Entry

Getty Images

How serious are the Cincinnati Bengals about not giving in to Chad Johnson's trade demands? Serious enough to swat away an offer from the Washington Redskins that could have netted the Bengals two first-round draft picks, team and league sources told ESPN.com.

The Redskins offered its first-round pick, No. 21 overall, and a conditional third-rounder in 2009 that could escalate to a first rounder if Johnson and the Redskins hit certain performance levels, the sources said.

It was not the first time the Redskins approached the Bengals about a deal, but it was the first significant proposal. The Bengals have not only rejected the Redskins, but two other NFC East suitors — the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles — have been informed that there has been no change in the team's position that Johnson will not be traded.

Source: espn.com

• 78 Comments
• Permanent Link
• Email this Entry

Getty Images

T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Chad Johnson's confidant, said Thursday that if his fellow Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver isn't traded, Johnson's going to be a problem and a potential distraction to the team. Houshmandzadeh said it might be best, in spite of the salary cap hit, if the Bengals granted Johnson's wish to be traded.

"If he's not traded, he's going to be a problem," Houshmandzadeh said. We have 53 players on the team. Do you want to roll the dice and get him to Cincinnati and see if he will perform and be professional? But will it be such a disruption that it will be another season down the drain - a season when (veteran Bengals right tackle) Willie Anderson doesn't get to the playoffs?"

He found himself talking to both Johnson and quarterback Carson Palmer on Wednesday, the day Johnson denied Palmer's comment that Johnson had told him he would report to the Bengals when required. By crossing swords with Palmer, Houshmandzadeh said, Johnson might have picked a fight he can't win.

Source: Cincinnati Enquirer

• 67 Comments
• Permanent Link
• Email this Entry

Getty Images

Besides the fact Chad Johnson is a vital part of what the Cincinnati Bengals do offensively, the club can simply not afford to trade the wide receiver or terminate his contract.

Trading or terminating Johnson's contract would cost the Bengals some $8.03 million in salary cap space this year. If Johnson is not with the Bengals in 2008, the club would have $8.03 million in dead money on the salary cap of $116 million because of the acceleration of bonus money already paid to Johnson. The Bengals cannot get that money back from Johnson and must account for it on the cap.

The Bengals are still absorbing up-front bonus money on their salary cap that had been paid to Johnson on his last two contracts; he received an estimated $10.5 million in bonuses when he signed in 2003 and another $10.25 million with the 2006 contract. Johnson remains under contract with the Bengals through 2010, and the club holds the option for 2011.

Source: Cincinnati Enquirer

• 38 Comments
• Permanent Link
• Email this Entry

Getty Images

On Wednesday, the shrapnel from Chad Johnson's offseason interviews that previously had hit the Cincinnati Bengals organization, its head coach, Marvin Lewis, and almost every player — save fellow receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh and quarterback Carson Palmer — struck Palmer.

Palmer drew Johnson's ire after saying Johnson had told him he would attend the mandatory minicamp in mid-June. Johnson saw Palmer's comments on the Web. Then Johnson called ESPN.com reporter John Clayton to dispute what Palmer had said. Johnson has declined to speak to Cincinnati-based reporters since October.

"I want to make this very clear,'' Johnson told Clayton. "I don't know where he got that. I made no assertion to Carson that I would do that. Nothing has changed from what I've been saying for three months that I don't want to play for the Bengals. ... I want to be traded before the draft, and if that doesn't happen, I want to be traded as soon as possible. I don't intend on reporting to anything."

Source: Cincinnati Enquirer

• 17 Comments
• Permanent Link
• Email this Entry

Getty Images

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer has spoken via phone with unhappy wide receiver Chad Johnson, and Johnson assured Palmer "he'll be there when he has to."

Palmer spoke to reporters late this morning during a break in the team's voluntary offseason strength and conditioning program. Johnson, disgruntled about a number of issues with the Bengals, is skipping the program for the first time.

Palmer said he "100 percent" understood the business side of the league and said he respected Johnson's right to behave similarly to a chief executive officer trying to get a new job. Still, as a football teammate, Palmer was happy to hear that Johnson would show up.

Source: Cincinnati Enquirer

• 55 Comments
• Permanent Link
• Email this Entry