Bengals Grant T.J. Houshmandzadeh's Wish, Franchise Kicker Instead

As the Cincinnati Bengals begin to reconstruct their team after a disastrous season, it makes perfect sense that they would use the franchise player designation to keep a key player around. With wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh and offensive lineman Stacy Andrews among the potential free agents, the Bengals certainly had options for their tag.

With that in mind, I'm sure no one is surprised that they decided to use it. What should surprise a few people is how the Bengals have decided to use it.

Instead of using the tag on Houshmandzadeh, a pretty talented receiver and stands to be in demand on the open market, the Bengals have tagged Shayne Graham. He's the kicker.

Huh? Why would you copy the Lions' offseason game plan?

"Shayne has consistently performed at a high level for us, and we expect that same performance in 2009 and hopefully beyond," said Bengals coach Marvin Lewis. "We'll continue to speak with Shayne and his representatives about signing a longer-term deal."

Lewis added: "We will also continue to talk with several of our other pending free agents in an ongoing attempt to resign them. Some will want to test their value in the market, and we of course will look at the market for possible new players. But as I've said before, the best value for all sides tends to be when a team re-signs its own key free agents, and we will make every attempt to re-sign the players we consider most important for 2009."

I kind of understand the Lions' move, since there really isn't anyone on the roster worth using the tag on. Since Jason Hanson is 38, it's not like he is going to play forever, but kickers can go for a long time, especially when most of their work is done indoors.

Why not Houshmandzadeh? Paul Daugherty of The Cincinnati Enquirer takes a stab at it.

Houshmandzadeh has made it plain he doesn't want the Bengals' franchise tag and won't attend voluntary workouts if he gets it.

The $9.88 million tag fee for a one-year deal sounds like a lot of money, even in the Neverland of pro sports. It's not, if Houshmandzadeh gets hurt enough this year that he can't play anymore. He was there to witness franchise player Andrews blow out his knee at the end of last year. Financially, it was a potentially devastating injury. T.J. wants no part of that.

I'm not sure I buy it.

Even an unhappy franchise player is worth something on the trade market. Now, instead of getting even a decent draft pick for Houshmandzadeh, the Bengals will get nothing if (when?) he walks.

Maybe I'm underestimating the market for kickers, but I find it hard to believe the Bengals were under a high risk of losing Graham. Even if they did, it's not like the kicker is the most important player on the team. While wide receivers aren't, either, they are a lot more important than kickers.

On the bright side, when the Bengals score a touchdown off the Steelers' backups to close to within 38-16 next season, they know Graham will be around to nail that extra point.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

2-16-2009 @ 5:28PM

anthonysofly420 said...

grant him his wish send him to the eagles we'll be glad to have a big time reciever for mccnab to throw to

2-16-2009 @ 7:45PM

Jim said...

Bring it to Chicago! Everybody bitches about Kyle Orton but if he had some recievers who could catch his numbers would be awesome. Tony Romo is only a mediocre Q.B. but his recievers were great and gave him great stats. A reciever with Houshmandzadeh's talent is all they need to hit play-offs again. Go Bears!!!!

2-16-2009 @ 7:11PM

palm90 said...

one less spade.

2-16-2009 @ 9:02PM

Redskins0492 said...

Agreed. Bring him to chicago and give Kyle Orton some playmakers

2-17-2009 @ 3:17AM

A.J. said...

I hope for Carson Palmer's sake that he gets traded. He's way too good to be mired in the mismanagement and epic vat of fail that is Cincinnati. If Carson Palmer stays healthy - more like, if the line (draft a tackle, for God's sake!) can keep him upright long enough - he's good enough to make average receivers look pretty good. As strange as this is, as much as the Lions sucked last year, if I had to pick a team that would turn around and be 2009's Dolphins, I'd have to take Detroit over Cincy. Most of the losses that Detroit had were competitive, and they at least look like they're doing something. Cincy looks completely static; they haven't canned Marvin Lewis, traded Johnson or Housh away for draft picks, invested enough money in their OL to keep their star QB, who is by far the best player on that team, off the turf. The best thing they have going for them is probably on defense with young talent in Leon Hall, Johnathan Joseph, and Keith Rivers, who had about 20 tackles in the first two games before Hines Ward rearranged his face. (How bad was that jaw break that it kept him out for the entire season?) The Lions have Calvin Johnson. As long as their QB next year knows where the endzone is (yes, I'm talking to you, Dan Orlovsky), they might win a few games.

2-17-2009 @ 1:05PM

Chris said...

Down with the Bungholes! Fire the coach and start totally from scratch

3-07-2009 @ 1:03AM

colormecolorado said...

you all DO realize the Bengals won their final 3 games, right? That's pretty impressive in the NFL at the end of the season. They need to fill some holes and they will win 8 to 10 games this year. 30%-40% chance of playoffs.