What could have the Bengals done differently with T.J. Houshmandzadeh?
by Josh Kirkendall on Mar 3, 2009 9:58 AM EST
in Analysis
Email
PrintThere's a fair amount of disappointment (aka, royally ticked off), that the Bengals "allowed" T.J. Houshmandzadeh to leave Cincinnati. We believe that it's justified based on what this team has historically accomplished when the issue has been about money. However, on this one, we're not totally sure how the Bengals could have addressed it differently.
Granted, they didn't franchise Houshmandzadeh, instead tagging Shayne Graham. But the franchise tag was nothing more than an inevitability. We pay Houshmandzadeh $9.88 million in 2009, and then what? Are the Bengals playoff contenders in 2009 and tagging Houshmandzadeh would have given us a playoff bound team? After that season is over, the league hits an uncapped year and the chances of signing Houshmandzadeh were even more remote.
The question next became, was the Bengals offer fair? The rough estimate is that the Bengals reportedly offered Houshmandzadeh a five-year deal, roughly $35 million around $11 million guaranteed. The Seahawks offered the same length, $40 million and $15 million guaranteed. Cincinnati didn't offer a low offer, they tried to remain competitive, but at the end of the day, this became evident:
- T.J. Houshmandzadeh wanted the most money
- T.J. Houshmandzadeh didn't appear to want to be here
Our point is the latter. We could be wrong, but at no point did it appear that the Bengals were really considered to win Houshmandzadeh. Sure, we were reportedly one of the finalists, but we can't get past the fact that the former team was on the table to force Seattle or Minnesota to maximize their offer.
It would have been nice to have Houshmandzadeh back, no doubt. He was critical to our offense. But he wasn't going to come back, and we're not sure what the Bengals could have done differently.
13 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Nothing
but the maddening part is us signing no one else. Why are we even looking at WR. We drafted Simpson and Caldwell and re-signed Henry last year. We have far greater needs at C, OT and RB.
Amen
Coles would be great but I would much rather use that money to sweeten our offer to Benson. Or offer Ray Lewis a big time contract
The problem is the number of players who don't want to be here
Ocho will probably move on too, and then we have a bad head coach, and a terrible front office, and a bunch of also ran talent. The Bengals are once again the bungles
Men write many fine and plausible arguments in support of monarchy, but the fact remains that where every man in a state has a vote, brutal laws are impossible.
When it’s said that “we did what we could do” in regards to Houshmandzadeh, it must be understood that the best of the Bengals’ ability is apparently nowhere near the best of other organizations. A winning club- or even just one that won a bit more than it lost over the years, wouldn’t have lost him. A competently run club wouldn’t have lost him. A club with some kind of direction or identity, with a dynamic coaching staff wouldn’t have lost him. What, for instance, would bringing in Hue Jackson as the new OC have done to TJ’s plans- or Chad’s for that matter?
by IgnatiusJReilly on Mar 3, 2009 10:51 AM EST reply actions
Change theory?
So TJ left, maybe this is a good thing. He did not want to be a number 2 and was still pisses about his last contract. He got exactly what he wanted, and lot of media attention and the most money possible. The Bengals are not the only team losing good players, AND have no winning tradition to help keep them. How has having an explosive offense and no defense worked for the last five years. ONE playoff game! Defense wins championships. IF they do spend some money on the O line and a running back, they might be ok. I am thinking positive here. Are Manning jr. and Tyree better than Carson and Ocho? How bout Brady and Caldwells big brother? The defense needs to be very good and the offense dependable. Sound familiar? Steelers, Patriots, Ravens, and Giants. Run the ball when needed, make a few plays here and there, turnovers and (playmakers on) defense. The confidence to do these things are what seperates the SB champs from the Bengals. The NFL channel on XM mentioned it yesterday “Every team can talk about a few plays during the season that changes close wins to loses”. Remember the NY, Dallas, Philly, and Ravens games? What would a running game and few playmakers on D due to change last season, and that was without Carson.
Maybe I am delusional, but I would prefer to have a little hope and look at the possibilities. Carson and Rivers back, focus on the O line and running back, see what Ocho, Caldwell, Henry, and Simpson can do, Zimmer giving the defense hell, and maybe avoiding all the injuries. It is a lot to ask, but what else do we do. (You can always go be a Steelers fan)
Sure...
but we have no playmakers on Defense….It’s fine that you mention these teams and how there defense has won games for them, but they also have intangibles we lack. And don’t get me wrong, our 12th ranked defense looked great last year. But we lack the Lewis’s, Suggs’s, Harrison’s, Polamalu’s, Uminuryura’s of the teams you mentioned. What seperates us and them is that they draft well and they fill voids with free agency (see Giants sign, Bernard, Boley & Canty)
I’ve mentioned this a zillion times, the Draft isn’t a cure-all thing. I’d say Rivers is the only proven starter from last years draft and he was our first pick. We have gapping holes and starting spots on the O-Line and at RB. So when you draft 8-10 guys to fil 8-10 roster spots, I don’t think Mike Brown is moving in the right direction. I don’t think its the TJ as a player situation that has everyone so beffuttled, its the continuing process of management to be oblivious to the needs and to address them via free agency
So, you overspend a little. Did the Redskins get ripped off, heck yea they did. Are they probably considered the winners of Free Agency, probably. It’s a double edge sword, sometimes you have to overpay players to insure they are wearing your jersey the next season and not a Seattle Seahawk jersey
"yeah so basically you got a qb with a bum elbow and ocho who is half spanish half retarded and thats it on offense eh"
- Wally, Best Friend/Giants Fan
I don't see why...
Paying him fair market value (We couldn’t match a $40 million contract? Really?) was so out of the question. He didn’t care where he went — see, Seahawks, Seattle — it was all about the money, and once again, the front office doesn’t step up and pay a player for services rendered. But yet, Brown feels the need to play facilitator to Chris Henry.
Oh well. At least he has his priorities straight.
Even if the Bengals had matched
TJ would have gone back to Seattle for another bump. And if he didn’t get it, he would have signed there over Cincy if the money were the same in both places. Even if the money was less, as long as it wasn’t too far apart, I think he still goes to Seattle. Read his stuff on bengals.com. TJ has been stewing in his own juices about being underpaid for 2 years.
Who's to even say...
…that the Brown family DIDN’T believe they had the most money on the table???
Not sure what you all do for a living, but I work in a world where competitive bids are the norm. There’s many of times where I think and believe that my bid or offer is by far the best…only to later find out it wasn’t.
Keep in mind that Seattle and/or Minnesota wasn’t likely revealing their hand…and I’m sure Kinnard McGuire wasn’t telling Cincinnati what Seattle was offering.
TJ left cause he wanted to leave.
I think the Brown family sucks just like the rest of us…but their effort to keep TJ here was commendable.
Ignatius J…I DO agree with your points though, however. But that theory (or evidents of facts) goes back a long ways. I believe everyone is talking about what the Bengals could have done differently in this situation. And I don’t believe they could have done anything else. (asides from not being a poorly run franchise for the past 18 years)
It’s of my opinion that they couldn’t have done anything to keep TJ here. Think about how frustrated we are as fans watching this team. Imagine how frustrating it might be if you actually played for this team.
Judging by his many comments over the past several months, I believe TJ checked out a long time ago. We can blame a lot of things on Mike Brown and Co. This one though, I don’t believe we can.
by JohnCockToastin on Mar 3, 2009 12:16 PM EST reply actions
So your undercut arguably one of your best players?
You knew what TJ wanted, why the heck would you bid not even remotely close to it. I like your business analogy about remaining competitive, but this is exactly where Mike Brown sucks as a businessman and as an owner. You can blame absolutly everything on him. Your not remaining competitive when your offer is 2 million a season below everyone elses, your off the wall. I too am surprised the Bengals name stuck around but the more and more I look at it, it appears they weren’t even in it at all, which pisses me off even more. Do you not think TJ is worth what he recieved, i think Seattle got an amazing deal for a guy thats consistently played hard, doesnt get hurt, puts up big numbers and most importantly is a comfort/check down reciever.
"yeah so basically you got a qb with a bum elbow and ocho who is half spanish half retarded and thats it on offense eh"
- Wally, Best Friend/Giants Fan
I don't think "Undercut" is the right term
The deal the Bengals offered him was more than fair. “Undercutting” is an overstatement. Look, we love TJ…but he’s 32, there’s 2 young WR’s in the wings that you drafted and paid, and there are far more glaring holes elesewhere.
Does that mean that you say, “the hell with him”? No….and they didn’t. Say what you want but they offered him a pretty lucrative deal.
TJ being on record as saying that what he was offered “wasn’t fair” is an insult to 99.9% of all Americans. Dude, it was PLENTY fair. Could he have gotten more? Sure. And he did.
I’m not defending Brown and/or his business practices either. But they made more than a valiant effort to keep him here. The bottom line is he didn’t want to be here. (Which I don’t blame him for either) But the dollar amount Cincy offered him had ZERO to do with him leaving…if you ask me.
And by the way…yeah, he was too hurt. Do you not recall him missing significant action in ‘07? Or how about in ’02 and ’04? So don’t say he didn’t/doesn’t get hurt. Cause he did.
He was a warrior though and did play through it…and we all loved him….but I’m just dialogueing to your comments. Since when are “check down” receivers — as you just called him — worth that kinda dough at this stage in a career??
Maybe Undercutting is a little harsh
…but were willing to pay 6-7 million for Coles?? The organization doesn’t make sense sometimes. You make some good points but I think you’re giving Mike Brown too much credit. Trust me, if your a half a million off somebody elses offer especially for a key component to your franchise you make the move you don’t be 2 million per year off and claim you tried everything you could to keep the guy in town.
Sure the offer was fair I agree with you, is he worth 8-9 Million a year, probably not. But he means more to the Bengals at 9 million then he does to the Seahawks. I thought one of the biggest losses this year was Dawkins in Philly, you should have read some of the uproar out of Philly, they swear the world was coming to an end. But Dawkins means is worth more to Philly in the lockerroom and to the fanbase then he is to the Broncos. Housh has much the same attributes, he’s a leader and he puts fans in the stadium and money in Mike Browns pocket and he’s unwilling to give Housh an extra 2 million and have the audacity to claim he tried everything he could, give me a break.
As for him being hurt, he’s never had a major injury. He missed what 4 games this year? he still led the team in recieving. I wouldn’t call 4 meaningless games as significant action, i think two of them were the last two of the season if I dont recall
"yeah so basically you got a qb with a bum elbow and ocho who is half spanish half retarded and thats it on offense eh"
- Wally, Best Friend/Giants Fan
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
