BengalsCentral Blog

Head over to my new site

2009-02-13T12:00:15-05:00

I will be posting over at my new site. If you have this one book marked, please change it. I'm working out the kinks as I add new material. Thanks

Oldie but goodie

2009-02-13T06:39:00-05:00

I think I posted this video before. We were on a road trip to Denver to play the Broncos. A big storm had hit so we left on a Friday instead of our normal Saturday. I actually had more footage but it was lost when I switched cameras. Check out the funny moment at the 5:20 mark.

JTV Denver from john thornton on Vimeo.

Mailbag

2009-02-12T17:27:53-05:00

Greetings from Vail, CO. I just got here for a family ski trip. But....I have time to update my blog. Slow day in football but a lot of small things are worth talking about. I will hit on some of those later. It's time for Mailbag.....

P.S. These questions can be found in the comments section of each post. I'm not making these questions up lol. I say that because I always joke with Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com about how he makes up questions from readers on his site. I know he doesn't, but we still kid him about it.

John, I agree with not taking a tackle that high, but for different reasons. I think they should move Collins to Right tackle and Whitworth to left tackle. They could be the tackles for years to come. Collins was a fourth round pick. Why not draft one later in the draft. Do you think it would be a good idea to pick up a center in free agency like Steussie or Faine? I know Steussie is older but has a lot of exp. Faine has only played for 5 years. I would like to see them sign Ray Lewis and draft Raji. That D would be awesome! I also would like to see you stay and play some D end. Let me know your thoughts. Last thought I hope they sign Crocker and Benson! Thanks Jim

Response:

Jim,

Thanks for the email. About the OT's. I don't think that Anthony Collins is a RT. Can he play it? Probably so. But remember, he is on the small side like most LT's. He is very lean and athletic. Most RT's are a little bigger. Whitworth is a LT or LG too. But I'm sure he could move over there if he had too because he is a good athlete. Whitworth actually looks more like a RT than a LT or LG. And......don't forget about Levi Jones.

My reasons for not drafting a OT with the sixth pick is because that position can be filled in free agency with a guy that will be much cheaper than a 50 million dollar contract. Sedrick Ellis was the 7th pick last year and got a 50 million dollar deal. And don't think that this won't be a long holdout either. So I hope all of you OT lovers are taking that in to account. You want to take a guy and pay him 50 mill and prob hold out most of Training Camp? And then come in and protect Carson? Ok. Good luck with that. Believe me, his agent is gonna want more than what Ellis got and I don't think he will get it very easily.

As to the center position. I thought Jeff Faine signed a big deal with Tampa Bay last year with a 15 million dollar signing bonus? I'm pretty sure of that. And I think you are talking about Matt Birk not Todd Steussie. Steussie is an OT/OG and came into the NFL in 1994. Matt Birk has been the top center in the league before, I'm not sure how he played this past year, but he would come in and help. Forget about Ravens OC Jason Brown. He will want to top the deal that Faine signed last year. I know that because he has Harold Lewis as his agent if I'm not mistaken. And Harold was my agent the last time I was a free agent back in 2003. Harold will suck every dollar out of a team. Which is good, that's his job. But if the player doesn't step in and say OK, I can accept that deal, he will go to highest bidder. Don't forget about Bengals OC Kyle Cook. He is the strongest Bengal and he would have played more last year but He broke his toe in pregame warm ups in the Dallas Cowboy game. There are good centers in the Draft too.

I think every team will want to sign Ray Lewis. The Ravens will get the first crack at it. My agent David Dunn, who also represents Ray, told me last night that Ray is very excited to be a free agent. This is the first time in his 13 year career that he is free.

I like BJ Raji, but the 6th pick may be a little too high for him. The only DT taken that high taken in the past few years that produced has been Richard Seymour. I think a guy has to be a big time pass rusher to go in the top 10. Pat Sims and Peko will hold down the fort inside for a lot of years if they keep getting better. You don't need a DT in the first day of the draft.

Man, you want to sign everyone! ha ha. You must have a lot of cap space.

Trade Bait

2009-02-12T06:25:00-05:00

Sports Agent Drew Rosenhaus

Bengals WR Chad Johnson said he was going to be quiet this off season and not talk about getting traded to another team. And so far Chad is staying true to his word. But that doesn't mean that his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, is going to be quiet. Reports are surfacing saying that Drew has sent a letter to all 32 teams that some of his players, including Chad Johnson, could be traded for the right price. I wouldn't read too much into that though. If you think about it, about 95% of the players in the NFL could be had for the right price. Obviously, Anquan Boldin wants to be traded, Chad wanted to be traded last year, and Plaxico Burress has legal issues with the New York Giants and the New York City police.

If you take a look at the whole report, it says that Drew Rosenhaus sent a letter to all 32 NFL teams letting them know which players he was representing for this upcoming free agency period, and which players he was representing for the upcoming NFL Draft. Then he threw in the three WR's that could be had via trade. Other than the trade section of this letter, it seems like common practice for agents to let teams know who they are representing. And apparently the Giants didn't give Drew permission to shop Plaxico Burress around, according to this ESPN.com story.....

"One source told the Star-Ledger that Giants assistant GM Kevin Abrams informed the rest of the league that the team had not given Rosenhaus the authority to pursue a trade on Burress' behalf. Another source told the paper that Rosenhaus sent a second e-mail Tuesday to tell teams he doesn't have permission to see a trade for Burress, Boldin or Johnson."

LOL, I forgot about Levi

2009-02-11T16:12:30-05:00

When I said this morning that I needed my coffee, I wasn't lying. When discussing the offensive line in an earlier post, I forgot about LT Levi Jones. I asked myself how did that happen and the only reason I could think of is that he was injured for much of this past season.

A reader asked me if I thought Levi would be back next year and the answer to that is.....I don't know. That's a tough one. Levi is very talented. But he has been injured since his best season back in 2005. I read things in previous seasons about him having problems with the organization, so maybe with the young Anthony Collins getting good game experience last year, the Bengals would be willing to explore trading or letting Levi go. I remember his agent asking for that last season. That's just me thinking out loud, again I have no inside info. This has been written about on Bengals.com in the past, so I don't want to be breaking any news here. ha ha. But if Levi can get healthy and the team keeps him, he is clearly the starter at LT. No questions asked.

Reader Comments

2009-02-11T15:55:49-05:00

I will try my best to respond to questions that are posed by readers. A lot of you have brought up good points and countered things that I have said. Good debate. We all have opinions. Here is a comment from a reader,

"TJ was 7th rd pick Ocho Cinco and Carl Pickens were 2nd rd The only 1st rd WR pick I can remember from bengals was, Peter Warrick... I feel pretty good about 1st rd pick of A. Smith/J. Smith/Monroe/Oher and a second rd pick of Alex Mack/Max Unger Whats the point of having Carson if you won't protect him. If I was Carson I'd be in someone's ear about making o-line a priority, and who could blame him? "

My response:

You have a valid point. Protecting Carson will be a major priority. He deserves to have a top notch O-line in front of him. The Bengals have been doing this over the past few years. Resigning Big Willie, Levi Jones, Bobbie Williams, Stacey Andrews, and drafting Andrew Whitworth were all moves to protect Carson. Now it's time to restock the OL. In the 2007 season Carson was sacked 17 times(franchise low?) and this past season those numbers were way up. All of those sacks aren't the OL fault either. I just think that they should address any OL issue in free agency. That way you are not going into the draft with an obvious glaring need. You can fill the RT position in other ways. Now if you think there is a can't miss guy at OT that is sitting there at #6, then go get him. And if he is a can't miss guy, he will prob be gone before six, especially when other teams know that you need that guy.

Draft projections will change

2009-02-11T10:54:26-05:00

As I look at many mock drafts on the Internet, I find myself shaking my head. It's way too early to predict which team will draft what. Is it fun to predict? Yes. But in reality, you have to wait until after free agency to see what each team really needs. If the Detroit Lions somehow make a trade for Patriots QB Matt Cassel, do you think they will still draft a QB with the No. 1 pick? No. So the key to predicting who your team will draft is predicting who they will get/lose in free agency and how that changes their roster. I will show you what I'm talking about.

Now I have no inside info on the Bengals. This is just my opinion. A reader challenged me the other day to put my GM hat on, so I will take a fun stab at it.

Franchise Tag. Who will get it? There is a lot of talk about who will get it. Teams have to use the franchise tag as the last line of defense. Meaning, the team and agent will negotiate a new contract and if they can't agree to a deal, then there is a possibility that the tag will be used on that player. Sometimes teams will negotiate with the threat of using the tag, in hopes of making the player and agent accepting a lower deal. So back to my question, who would I franchise? It would have to be the player that I could least afford to lose and I am not willing to pay what he is demanding. And it has to be a player that I know will be in demand on the open market, so resigning him once free agency starts is going to be tough. Because once other teams become involved, nobody will know who or what they are bidding against. So taking all of that into account, I would have to say the the Bengals would use the franchise tag on............... K Shayne Graham.

Why Shayne you ask? Simple. Franchising Shayne would cost the team 2.5 Million dollars. Also, Shayne is the player that the team will find the hardest time replacing. Franchising TJ would cost 10 million dollars and tagging Cedric Benson would cost about 7 million. But Andre Caldwell can replace TJ and you have the 6th pick in the draft so I wouldn't tag him. Cedric will want to paid like a starting RB and if he is not, he won't accept a deal before free agency starts because he would rather take the franchise tag(7 mill) then take a lesser deal with more years on it. The Bengals could and should be working on a deal for Shayne as we speak, but if it doesn't get done before Feb 27th, then he would be the guy who has to get it. Keep in mind, this negotiation started before last season. Shayne has said on record that he wanted to get a deal done before the season started and that didn't happen so I'm guessing that talks are still ongoing. I know one thing, Shayne has great numbers and he will want to be either the top or amongst the top paid kickers in the NFL. So paying one one your best players 2.5 million dollars for one season with the franchise tag is a bargain. Plus it gives you time to still negotiate after free agency starts. And it keeps money free to address other needs on the team.

So that's my poke at the GM thing.

And with the 6th pick.......

2009-02-10T18:13:50-05:00

I was talking to a buddy(NFL employee) today about a topic he heard on some local sportstalk shows here in Cincinnati. He was pretty irritated because fans here in Cincinnati were opposed to taking a WR with the 6th pick in the NFL Draft. We got into a pretty good debate about who we thought the team should take with the pick. In the middle of the conversation I said that I wished I had a recorder to put this on my website. It was pretty good. Anyway, I will bring you bits and pieces of the debate and you can chime in to let me know what you think. Today's debate is going to be the case of drafting an Offensive Tackle with the 6th pick.

My take? I'm not in favor of it. Here's why. As of right now, the Bengals would line up Anthony Collins at LT. Andrew Whitworth at LG. The center position is open and will be a position that gets upgraded. Bobbie Williams holds down the RG position, and the RT position is vacant due to the knee injury to Stacey Andrews. And he is a free agent so who knows if the Bengals will offer him a contract. So you have two spots open on the OL. I'm not in favor of filling either of those spots with the sixth pick in the draft. Why? Because if you are going to draft a RT in that spot, he better be good enough to start right away. And not only good enough to start, but be able to play in this division and block these 3-4 defenses. The 6th pick is just too high to pick someone based on need. So, assuming that RT is the position the Bengals are going to be looking for, then they should wait until after round one to find that guy. I believe Anthony Collins is good enough and hungry enough to be the guy at LT for the Bengals so I'm not so sure that they will be looking to replace him.

Looking at playoff teams Right Tackles and where they were drafted.

Ravens- Willie Anderson (1st-10th pick)

Steelers- Willie Colon (6th)

Colts- Ryan Diem (4th)

Titans- Dave Stewart (4th)

Chargers- Jeromy Clary (6th)

Dolphins- Vernon Carey (1st-19th pick)

Cardinals- Levi Brown (1st-5th pick)

Panthers- Jeff Otah (1st-19th pick)

Eagles- Jon Runyan (4th)

Giants- Kareem McKenzie (3rd)

Vikings- Ryan Cook (2nd)

Falcons- Tyson Clabo (undrafted)

Hmmm

2009-02-09T23:46:53-05:00

I know I said I was tired of the A-Rod talk but he keeps saying silly things. I like it when guys detail exactly when they started taking steroids. Like I'm really going to believe him. We always stretch the truth a little right? A-Rod said he started using in 2001, right after he got the largest deal in sports history. Hmmmm. Either he is lying or he does things exactly opposite of most of the other steroid users.

I would think guys would use steroids to get that big contract, not after they get it. But A-Rod said that he felt pressure to live up to the deal and he wanted to live up to being among the all time greats. Ok. You get a 10 yr, 250 million dollar deal, that's fully guaranteed no matter if you play or not, and then you start doing steroids? So you were good enough to get that kind of deal without taking steroids and now you have to take it? Wow.

The bad part is that the ESPN sports ticker that runs across the bottom of the screen ran some stats tonight that supports what A-Rod is saying. It said that he hit 52 HR's per year from 2001-03, the same time that A-Rod said he took these steroids. And hit 39 HR's per year in his other nine years in the league. So maybe he was telling the truth. Who know's. But I still think he had it all backwards.

Scouting Report: Penn State DE Aaron Maybin

2009-02-09T18:39:03-05:00

I just got finished breaking down some film of Penn State DE Aaron Maybin. I watched the Ohio State game and the Rose Bowl Game vs USC. I was actually at the Rose Bowl, but I didn't know of Maybin at the time. The reason I watched those two games were because there were different kinds of offenses and I got to see Maybin attack people in different ways. In the OSU game, Maybin faced a mobile QB, and in the USC game he faced a pro style offense. Watching tape against pro style offenses gives you more of a read because that's what he will see on Sunday's in the NFL. I can look at a defensive lineman and tell right away if he has certain skills to play at the next level. I do not claim to be an NFL Draft expert so I won't say where he should be drafted. Some say he is a top 10-15 pick. Who knows?

(My scouts eye view at Rose Bowl)

Here are Maybin's Strength's

-He is 6-4. Long and lanky. If I had to compare him physically to somebody in the NFL, it would be Jason Taylor. I used Jevon Kearse as a guideline because we were drafted together in Tennessee and I know how he looked as a rookie. But Jevon was a different kind of player. The "Freak" was bigger, stronger, and ran a 4.4 40yd dash. Maybin will be working out soon to display his skills.

-He can get around OT's pretty easily when its an obvious passing situation.

-Gives good effort to the ball on most plays that he is in the game. Runs past his own teammates at times.

-Uses his hands to get blocker off of him if the play is coming his way.

-Has natural strength

-Can beat TE's in run game and get off blocks if play is going away from him.

-Speed rusher that is not afraid to try inside moves. More comfortable as a right end.

-Plays both sides well. Speed rushes more on left side. When he is at the right DE, he will make more contact with the OT. Also works more moves on the right side against left OT's.

-Get's a good jump on ball and can speed rush pretty well.

Maybin's weaknesses

-Needs to bulk up. From what I am told, weighed 235 during the season.

-Needs to gain wieghtroom strength so he can play OT's better in run game

-Work on awareness. Know the down and distance. USC ran all of their screen passes his way because Maybin kept running up field. When it was 2nd and 3rd and long, he rushed way up field allowing USC to run screen pass to his side for a first down. This happened a few times.

-Play with hands more to keep bigger guys off of him. Sometimes he throws his shoulders into blockers

allowing them to hold him and he is too skinny to escape.

All in all, I was impressed with Aaron. I think he is a good player that will still develop. But he will probably have to be used in a limited role early on in his rookie season. He has to go to a team that will play him mostly on passing downs and keep him on the outside edge of the TE's and OT's. He is stronger than he looks but needs to get stronger but you can't teach speed and he seems to have that. At least from the games that I watched. I don't think he is as gifted as Jevon Kearse was when he came out or as fast as he was, but with teams looking for pass rushers, he will be drafted to have the impact that Jevon had. I hope he gets a good D- line coach to teach him while he is young, so when he gets more experience in the NFL, he can lean of his technique to beat guys and then let his athletic ability to make big plays.

Midday monday

2009-02-09T13:34:21-05:00

Sometimes I get a brain freeze when it comes to what I want to talk about. When that happens I usually take a ride in my car and listen to different talk shows. I go to Starbucks. I go to Fresh Market. I go to the Apple Store. But today I did some daddy duty and dropped my son off at preschool then rode to a meeting for some things I want to incorporate into my new website. That went well. I'm excited about it. Anyway, back to the radio. I checked out some local sports talk and they were talking about A-Rod. I turned to Howard Stern and he was talking about A-Rod. I turned to ESPN Radio and they were talking about A-Rod. I'm really tired of hearing about it. The one name that is getting brought up now is Ken Griffey Jr. He is probably last big name player who never took steroids and people are looking at his career now and appreciating it more. Ken is my favorite player of all-time, right next to Barry Bonds, so the whole A-Rod thing doesn't bother me. If he did it, he should be talked about in the same light as Barry Bonds. Speaking of Barry, I know he is happy that someone just as big or bigger than him is taking some of the negative spotlight away from him.

I blame it all on football season being over. Whoever broke this story probably had all of this info a while back, and waited for the Super Bowl to be over and then have the headlines.

Restricted Free Agency

2009-02-09T07:00:00-05:00

Ed Thompson of Scout.com wrote a good article about the rules of restricted free agency. He breaks down the salaries and compensation that the original team receives for losing a player to another team.

I don't understand it

2009-02-08T12:15:19-05:00

Former NFL star Jamal Anderson was recently arrested for drug possession at a Atlanta bar. When I read the headline on the Internet, I said "COME ON MAN!" Last week while I was in Las Vegas, I was watching ESPN in my hotel room and Jamal was on TV. I thought to myself, "that's cool, he has a cool job, I'm happy for him." Let me be the first to say, never believe everything you read. I have seen people get accused of something and a few weeks later we find out that the story was different than first reported. Many of my teammates(WVU, Titans, Bengals) over the years have been involved in situations where they were on the wrong side of the law. So I will say Jamal is innocent until proven guilty.

There are a few things in this police report that upsets me. They said that Jamal had a rolled up joint in his pocket. I get that people are going to smoke weed. And you know what? If you decided to do that, go right ahead. I'm not judging anyone, but why bring it out of the house with you, to a nightclub? Why drive around with it in your car? I never understood that. And then the report says he had cocaine on him. That's what really got me disappointed. Cocaine is something I will never understand. Why throw that into the mix? Can you not have a good enough time on the weed and alcohol? Like I said, I'm not judging Jamal or anyone else in that matter, but I think it's reckless and silly to do that. And I say this knowing that I come from a household in North Philadelphia that was full of drugs. My mother was addicted to crack, my step-father was addicted to crack, my aunts and uncles were on heroin. It was nothing for me to find drug needles around my home. The only people in my house that weren't addicted to drugs was me and my grandmother. I still loved my family even though they were using but I never understood it. Like I said, I'm not judging, I just don't understand it.

Jamal is a retired NFL player. He is a very likeable guy. He made lot of money. He has(had) a nice job working for ESPN. So why screw it up? We all make bad decisions in life, and I have made plenty. So I hope this story ends up being false.

Saturday Night at the Movies

2009-02-08T01:15:18-05:00

He's Just Not That Into You is a good movie. I went into it thinking it would be a chick flick but it ended up being a movie that men and women will like. Fellas go check it out.

Sorry about my previous video not playing. I will repost tomorrow. Something is wrong with my internet connection tonight.

A-Rod on steroids? So what

2009-02-07T17:06:35-05:00

This steroid stuff is old news. Jose Canseco outted A-Rod years ago when he released his first book. Nobody cared because Jose said it and they think he's an idiot. But he has been dead on with every player that he named. I wish every baseball player just came out and admit they used steroids whether they did it or not. Then the story would be over with. I really don't care that Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire, A-Rod, or anyone, did steroids. Is it wrong? Yes. Should they do it? No. It sets a bad example for kids. They weren't being tested for it back then and they did them. The bad part is when they lie under oath about it. Then the player becomes just plain stupid. Just admit it, take the blame, and move on with your life. Finish the rest of your 200 million dollar deal, move to Florida, and detox your body from all of the juice. Sounds good to me. That's what my man Jason Jiambi did. Said he was sorry, but didn't say what he was sorry for, and he was forgotten about. I honestly care more about A-Rods divorce and how he is chasing Madonna, more than I will ever care if he took steroids.

Mailbag....reader puts on his GM hat

2009-02-07T16:41:58-05:00

From Louis D,

"As far as free agency, I would concentrate young "up and comer" type players that haven't had the chance to shine. There may not be a lot of them out there, but they're out there. As far as the draft, pick the best player available in the first round. If the BPA is a low character guy then get the next. The top of the draft has players that would be an upgrade at their respective position. The only exception would be WR. The only position I would reach for would be for a kick returner. Preferred a CB or RB. It's a position that has been long ignored."

Louis,

There is nothing wrong with your theory. Fewer and fewer teams are letting those "young, up and comer types" go into free agency. You will see teams signing young players a year or two before their contract is up. I think the Eagles started this trend about five years ago. They started giving their good young players 5 year deals and people around the league were scratching their heads. Guys like Shawn Andrews, Lito Sheppard, Trent Cole, and even Mike Patterson were all in their second or third year of their rookie contracts when the Eagles came to them to do a new deal. The player is all for this deal when it happens. They are getting market deals when their contract isn't even up. The team looks silly for giving these players all of this money when they don't have to, but in two or three years when these same players become Pro Bowlers or even very good players, the teams have these guys locked into their contracts at below market salaries. The Bengals did this last year with Domata Peko and Andrew Whitworth.

You will still see good players enter free agency. Either they are veteran players who are salary cap casualties, or the player comes from a team that believes in the draft to build their team and they only pay a handful of people. A team like the Colts.

The bottom line is, NFL teams have to draft well. They can't afford to miss on guys very often. Use free agency to supplement your team.

As to your draft theory, taking the best player available is one thing, but you better be able to use him. And he better be able to play at the next level. There are plenty of players that were picked because they were the best players available and they are not helping their team. I think teams should pick the guy that will help your team the most. That's when teams get into trouble. Prime example, the Bears took Cedric Benson a few years ago when they had a young cheap Thomas Jones in their backfield. How did that work out? They ended up trading Thomas Jones to the Jets, where he made the Pro Bowl this season. Cedric Benson was released and is here in Cincinnati, where he is about to hit free agency after a good 2008 season. And the Bears ended up using second round pick in the 2008 draft on RB Matt Forte, who had a very good rookie season. It ended up working out well for all parties involved but that's not how they drew it up.

Mailbag

2009-02-07T13:27:21-05:00

From David,

"John can you blog about what some of the emotions and the thought process a player goes through. Especially if they are attached to a city and there team isn't showing them the respect the deserve. Also when you make a decision to go a team is it just about the money or are you thinking about your kids and there schools, your wife friends, etc. . . We as fans forget that you are people just like us. And that you have a very limited amount of time to make a great deal of money, that in my job if I make a mistake maybe 3 people know it not 30 million. I really enjoy your blog because you make football players humans instead of just machines."

David,

Free agency is different for each player. I can only speak for myself but I know what usually happens. When a player is coming off of his rookie contract, money is the most important thing. Even though rookie deals are good money, they are not enough to live the rest of your life off of, unless you are a top ten pick or something. I was a second round pick so I wanted my next contract be the one that determined my financial future. I didn't know what my value would be on the open market so i had no idea what to expect. The Titans had players behind me that were pretty good(Robaire Smith and

Albert Haynesworth) so I knew they weren't going to match any offer that I got from another team. So I went into free agency feeling like I was blind folded.

For the most part, every player wants to stay with the team that they are with. It was much easier that way. Easier on your family, and easier on the player as well. Feeling like the new kid at school isn't cool, no matter how much money you are making. Going to a new team is very awkward. You have to find a place to live, learn new highways, where to shop, where to eat, the danger spots, things like that. And as silly as it sounds, you have to learn where to sit in team meetings, on team planes,etc. I remember my first team meeting in Cincy and I sat in a seat in the back of the room. Jeff Burris came up to me and said, "Hey big fella, that's my seat. I know you can kick my ass, but that's really my seat." He said this with a smile on his face but I knew what he meant. So I scooted over.

When players get the feeling that their current team doesn't want them, bad feelings start to occur. That's when guys want to leave. And they want to leave in a hurry. Family didn't play a big part in making my decision the first time I went to free agency. I knew my family would adjust where ever I went. I remember thinking I wanted to go to the Arizona Cardinals. And it just so happened that they wanted me to play there. My wife was excited to go there as well. But I chose Cincinnati because of the coaches and the contract was comparable to what the other guys in my class was getting. Arizona at the time was moving really slow and didn't make a serious off until I said I was going to Cincy.

After a player has money and his family is set up, then other things become important when making a decision on which team to play for. First of all, you need the team to be interested in you! That's the first thing. But secondly, players want to win when they get later in their careers. They want to be treated with respect. They want to be in a place that makes playing football easy. And they want to be somewhere that there family enjoys being, because by this time players usually have a wife and kids that are in school.

But I would be lying if I said that money wasn't a big factor though. The only players who say they would play this game for free are Elite QB's. It cracks me up when I hear people say Brett Favre would play for free, but keeps coming back for that 10 million dollar salary each year. Players see what other guys are making and they want it too. So if a guy is in position to get it, they will try.

So to finish this up, every player is different. A player is only worth what the teams are willing to pay him. And players will play anywhere if they are looking for money, but if the decision is based on family and how the organization treats them, and winning, then you will see players going to consistent winners like the Patriots. They get guys who can still play, but they are at the point of their career where all they want to do is win. Guys like Rodney Harrison and Junior Seau.

Ok, back to TJ

2009-02-06T13:21:33-05:00

(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images North America)

Joe Reedy has an article about TJ in today's Enquirer. I thought it was a good piece. TJ doesn't think the Bengals will put the franchise tag on him and he explains why. He feels as if the team has too many holes to tie up 10 million dollars into him for one year. And with the looming uncapped year coming up in the NFL, he may be right. With each day that goes by, TJ is going to let his feelings be known more and more.

I think TJ is a very genuine person. He works hard everyday. He takes care of his body and he is one of the smartest football players I have ever played with. When I say smart, I mean he knows everything about his team and every other team. People would be surprised at how many current players do not know anything about other players or other teams in the NFL. I can bring a name up to TJ and he will know who it is immediately. Some guys don't even know the players they are going up against on Sundays. Knowing these things doesn't necessarily make you a better player, it just says something about your football IQ. And TJ's IQ is pretty high.

Back to the article, it sounds to me like TJ knows something that we don't know. Maybe his agent has talked to the Bengals and has a feel that the team won't match his contract demands.(because that happened last year) Or maybe TJ is playing Poker with the Bengals and daring the to franchise him, knowing that if they do, it will screw up any chances for the team to be very active in free agency. Bottom line is TJ wants his shot at a big contract like everyone else and he feels that if the team won't give it to him, then let him walk. He is 32 years old and he doesn't want to be a 33yr old WR next year trying to get his deal. I can say this, he does care about the team and he has always represented the Bengals well. To my knowledge, he has never gotten in any trouble off the field and has made himself into an elite player on it. He also had a tough upbringing and never used that as an excuse to get in trouble.

My take on it is this, either the Bengals know they aren't going to franchise TJ and are just waiting to tell him, or they are letting TJ and his agent generate interest with other teams, hoping that a team or two fall in love with him enough that they would make a trade and give the Bengals a 1st or 2nd round pick in return.(Teams can accept less than a first round pick for franchised players) That way the Bengals get something out of the deal. But that is risky because TJ can sing the franchise tag as soon as the Bengals offer it and it will be a done deal, 10 million dollars on the books right now.

Getting ripped!!!

2009-02-06T11:46:55-05:00

I wasn't lying about going to workout. I go to this little gym near my house during the off season, they have pretty good workouts. One on one work, not a lot of traffic.

More on Big Al and TJ

2009-02-06T10:31:08-05:00

(Albert Haynesworth)

I woke up this morning and read a few football articles on-line. What I posted yesterday got me to thinking. Players scheduled to become free agents are really getting antsy. It's like a kid knowing that Christmas is three weeks away. Each player has different circumstances to worry about. I will look at two guys, both are guys that I have played with in the past, Albert Haynesworth and TJ Houshmandzadeh.

Albert is in the driver's seat. He doesn't have a care in the world. The Titans can't franchise him. All they can do is offer him the best deal that they can and see if he takes it. He already said he is not taking a "hometown discount." In an article on Foxsports.com, Albert said this,

"I want to be the top, not among the top," Haynesworth said Wednesday. "That's how the market goes. They put you as the top free agent, so you got to demand top dollar. It's not me. I'm not making up these numbers, it's you guys that come up with the numbers, so I go by that too."

"Hopefully the Titans step up, if they don't, I'm looking," he said.

That sounds like a confident man to me. He should have just said, "screw you, pay me!" If I were Albert, I would just stay in Hawaii(he's at the Pro Bow) until the eve of free agency. I would make sure nothing goes wrong between now and then.

Big Al is a good dude. A little misunderstood at times, but still a good dude. He is a big kid at heart. He has a mean streak in him that I haven't seen any other players have. It's good for game days but sometimes he goes a little too far and can't control it. But he was a good teammate when I played with him. Anytime we would play the Titans, he would always come up to me and ask how me and my family was doing and I would do the same. I remember telling him four years ago that he was the best DT in football. Back in 2005, he destroyed the Ravens in a game before we played the Titans. I kept reading about how well he played, so I went to PBS on my off day and watched the Ravens-Titans game. And he did destroy them.

Any team that gets him will be happy and he will definitely change the landscape of their team. They just have to know how to deal with him. I wish Albert well.

I will talk about TJ later today. Gotta go workout. Had to take the kids to school and grab carry out at First Watch then came back to finish this post.