NFC East targeting veteran wide receivers

by Dave Halprin (Grizz) on Apr 22, 2008 10:28 AM CDT in News

It looks like the entire NFC East - except for the Giants - is looking to grab a veteran WR. According to sources the Redskins made an offer to the Bengals for their talented, but disgruntled receiver Chad Johnson.

The Redskins offered this year's 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.

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.

That’s seems to at least set the minimum bar for what the Bengals would consider for Johnson. And given his attitude and big contract, I can’t see any teams going above and beyond that offer. It looks like Ocho Cinco will stay where he is unless the Bengals are just driving up the price. My gut tells me that they are serious about not trading him.

That won’t stop the NFC East though, there’s another wide receiver out there drawing interest. Roy Williams is a guy on the last year of his contract and the Lions have made no effort to sign him to a long-term contract, leading to much speculation about his future.

In the latest episode, Eagles radio analyst Mike Quick says there will be news on Williams before the week is out. GCobb.com -- a Web site run by former Lions, Eagles and Cowboys linebacker Garry Cobb, now a Philadelphia media personality -- reports "that means the Cowboys, Redskins or the Eagles will probably wind up with the receiver."

At the Lions’ press conference yesterday, they shook off questions about trading Roy but didn’t give the emphatic "no" that they had previously stated. Maybe something is cooking there and I hope the Cowboys are right in the middle of it. I’ve always said this one was the most likely to happen for the Cowboys.

Jerry Jones will be holding a pre-draft press conference today. That should be interesting. Among other topics I’m sure the Pacman trade will be discussed.

Nick Eatman talks up the talented defensive line prospects in this draft.

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I think the Eagles and Skins

have a better shot at landing Williams since their 1st rd picks are higher than the Cowboys.

In Romo we Trust

by Terry on Apr 22, 2008 10:35 AM CDT reply reply 0 recs

Go ahead Eagles

I don’t care if the Eagles get Roy Williams. I don’t think it will make them that much of a better team. He doesn’t impress me; although, he seems to do well against the Cowboys—but so did Mike Williams.

That #38 sure can hit!

by Bigrigga31 on Apr 22, 2008 10:54 AM CDT reply reply 0 recs

Hey Grizz

I just joined Hogs Haven and they had 3 rules to follow before joining that were pretty funny. I was just wondering what your rules were for this site. Haha

Its my Money, And I want it NOW!

by thebigham on Apr 22, 2008 11:15 AM CDT reply reply 0 recs

Wow.

Cincinnati turned down what could be potentially two first round picks from Washington? Sounds to me that they seriously have no interest whatsoever in trading Chad.

Always moving forward....

by Nelson... on Apr 22, 2008 11:33 AM CDT reply reply 0 recs

CJ

At this point, I would trade a first this year and a first next year to get CJ. Is that overpaying, yes. But I’d do it but I’m probably in the minority.

Derek

Signature! I don't need no stinking signature!!

by DerekSTheRed on Apr 22, 2008 11:39 AM CDT reply reply 0 recs

please dont ever apply for the cowboys GM job

Trade up a few spots to get ahead of Houston and draft Jonathan Stewart, thee best all around Back in the draft.

by Deke on Apr 22, 2008 12:02 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

LOL.

Yeah, two first round picks? I wouldn’t do it.

Lest we forget the Joey Galloway trade. How did that work out for us?

Always moving forward....

by Nelson... on Apr 22, 2008 12:52 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

interesting!!!!

Jerry Jones will be holding a pre-draft press conference today. That should be interesting. Among other topics I’m sure the Pacman trade will be discussed.

If you’re looking to take a nap, jerry will certainly put you to sleep with what he has to say, as the doube talker of talk saying nothing about anything which will waste about an hour… I highly doubt Jerry wont tell anyone, anything about the draft or Pac-rat during his press conference..

Trade up a few spots to get ahead of Houston and draft Jonathan Stewart, thee best all around Back in the draft.

by Deke on Apr 22, 2008 12:07 PM CDT reply reply 0 recs

The Bungals make another bad decision...

They turn down potentially two first rounders for Chad?

SMH… So now they’re concerned about standing up to the attitudes in their locker room and proving a point? What a bunch of idiots…

They’re cutting off their nose to spite their face at this point. Bringing him back makes no sense, at all. When one of your best players (Houshmandzadeh) comes out publicly and says Chad will be a terrible distraction if he’s still in Cincy come Training Camp, you’ve gotta do something… If they can trade him now and spread the cap hit across two years, as the ESPN article suggests they can, they need to cut ties and get rid of him. And they aren’t getting better value than what the Redskins offered…

by N41D on Apr 22, 2008 12:14 PM CDT reply reply 0 recs

they cant trade him now

and spread the pro-rated bonus over two years, thats been gone over ten times here, that article was referring to a trade after June 1st….

The Bengals dont have to do anything, the team doesn’t have to give in to this babies demands at all, he’s under contract, a contract which he signed two years ago, a deal where the Bengals tore up is old contract with three years left on it, he’s a big baby, always has been ans alway will be, let him sit and rot….He’w ant to be traded because he wants a new deal…..

Trade up a few spots to get ahead of Houston and draft Jonathan Stewart, thee best all around Back in the draft.

by Deke on Apr 22, 2008 12:30 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

I assume you didn't actually read the article...

Because it never once mentions anything about June 1st…

Trading Johnson also would mean Cincinnati would take an $8 million salary-cap hit, but that amount could be split over the next two years.

That’s the only reference to the cap-hit in the entire thing, and it says nothing about June 1st…

He want to be traded because he wants a new deal…..

Where has he, or anyone for that matter, ever suggested he wants out because he wants more money? He’s already one of the two highest paid receivers in football. He wants out because he’s continually made the scapegoat for everything that has ever gone wrong in Cincinnati. It’s his touchdown celebrations and his confrontation with Carson Palmer that cost the team games last year.

With all the off-field issues in that locker room and Marvin Lewis’ inability to gain control of his own team, Chad Johnson and his on-field antics should have been the last thing the Bengals were worried about.

by N41D on Apr 22, 2008 1:11 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

CJ to the Redskins would be a bad career move

Why would CJ even entertain the idea of going there? They are going to struggle for a few years. They have a young QB, new HC and new offensive system in place. What a bad fit it would for CJ, because he want’s to win a superbowl now and the Skins are not even close to being there. It was only a matter of time before Danny Boy attempted something like this. He was too quiet this offseason.

by Boyzfan94 on Apr 22, 2008 6:58 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

It's pretty clear to me

If Johnson were traded or released after June 1, the Bengals could spread the salary cap hit into the 2009 cap year.

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080416/SPT02/304160064/-1/CINCI

That means his pro-rated bonus could be spread out over two years.

If he’s traded before the draft, they would have to eat 8 million on their cap this year—-not going to happen….

Oh, When a player says its not about the money—-it means, its always about the money. He’s a baby, he whines every year, he wanted out two years ago, it wasn’t about the money then either, and then the bengals redid his contract that had three years left on it, and then he was happy as a clam. not about the contract, yeah, you keep telling yourself that….

Trade up a few spots to get ahead of Houston and draft Jonathan Stewart, thee best all around Back in the draft.

by Deke on Apr 22, 2008 1:35 PM CDT reply reply 0 recs

Chad is definately about the money

I used to be a big CJ fan since I am also a Bengals fan, but the dude disappears in the clutch too often and pulls up going across the middle. They should trade him, and I would prefer it to be to a team not in the NFC East, but it won’t be to anybody before June 1st. If I wasn’t a Bengals fan I would say don’t trade him and let him sit it out, but that would be bad for the team so he should go.

by bluewolf021 on Apr 22, 2008 2:05 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

Well, considering that's not the article I had referred to...

Not sure which is a more credible source on football information… Chris Mortensen at ESPN… or… The Enquirer… Shrugs

The ESPN article that Grizz linked to above suggests they could do it now and spread it out over two years. That article, the one linked in Grizz’s post, says nothing about waiting until June 1st. If that’s the case, they dropped the ball and made a mistake by passing on the Redskins offer…

by N41D on Apr 22, 2008 4:29 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

I told you already

Mortensen’s artice is void of all the facts, If Chad is traded or cut before june 1st, the cap hit this year is 8 million for the bengals, if he is cut or traded after june 1st, the cap hit can be spread over two years. I cant make it any clearer for you than that…...

Why do you think they call it june 1st cuts, usual teams cut high priced veteran players that have a big cap hit where if they cut the player after june 1st, thay can spread the cap hit of the pro—rated bonus/salary of that player over a longer period of time of that players contract. Chad has two years left on his deal, thats where the two years of his deal thats left can be spread over the two years.

Trade up a few spots to get ahead of Houston and draft Jonathan Stewart, thee best all around Back in the draft.

by Deke on Apr 22, 2008 5:05 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

If I'm right teams can make a June 1st cut prior

to June 1st, but only for one or two players. This is probably what Mort was talking about.

by Boyzfan94 on Apr 22, 2008 7:02 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

yeah, they sure can

but Cincy isn’t just going to cut him. If they were to cut him now, they would list him as part of their june 1st cut, and then they could spread his pro-rated salary over the two years, but we all got to know that Cincy isn’t going to just cut him….

Trade up a few spots to get ahead of Houston and draft Jonathan Stewart, thee best all around Back in the draft.

by Deke on Apr 22, 2008 7:13 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

agreed to that

Cinci won’t cut him. I’m convinced now after turing down a 1st and 3rd round pick. Some team is going to have to make a crazy offer for them to consider trading CJ. In the end CJ will be all talk and will report at some point.

by Boyzfan94 on Apr 22, 2008 8:50 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

Don't want Chad

Need to get younger on offense not get a WR who will start declining in a few years. He is good, but doesn’t have near the amount of upside as other WRs and has too big an attitude problem to constitute a first round pick when T.O. is on the other side of him catching all the balls that Chad believes belong to him.

by Romo9 on Apr 22, 2008 3:33 PM CDT reply reply 0 recs

I hope CJ ends up in DC

Johnson is a hot mess who’s best years are behind him. Sounds like a prototypical Redskin. Let them overpay and watch him tear apart a locker room under a new first time head coach.

Of the 3 solid veteran WRs supposedly available, I’d be most interested in Williams, then Boldin.

by Hooplehead on Apr 22, 2008 6:42 PM CDT reply reply 0 recs