At Least One Offer of Two "Firm" First-Round Picks Made for Chad

Oil Slick made an appearance on ESPN.com's draft coverage saying that the Cincinnati Bengals have had at least one firm trade offer of two first-round picks. Not a conditional third, but a second first-round pick. So that covers one of three prerequisites given to us by Merrill Hoge earlier. The second is that the Bengals would like an established player. The third?

This is what I believe is the main hurdle for Oil Slick and Prima Donna Johnson. The Bengals want $5 million already paid to Prima Donna Johnson that was freely handed to him when he signed his -- how did Oil Slick put it two years ago, ground breaking? -- contract. While I think the "we won't trade Chad because he's under contract" is an inspiring position for fans tired of players consistently begging for trades, this really seems like a counter-demand that Mike Brown would make. If you're going to sign a contract, even though a ton of your money is given up front, you will earn that money even though you already have it. Otherwise, sit and retire.

But with this information coming out this morning/afternoon, it would seem like a trade is becoming even less likely that the demands are becoming so public -- and free flowing. Though who knows? We do know that the NFL Draft is still 90 minutes away and four teams have reportedly already made their selections. Funny.