What other teams would seriously be interested in Owens as a hired gun at this point? I’m sure there are a few (Chicago? Oakland?), but there can’t be many. Owens’ ego and desire for attention likely still outweighs the comedown that signing on as a 3rd / 4th receiver would represent , so I don’t see him retiring yet. I can still see an outside possibility of him signing with us several weeks from now if he can’t find any other takers.

Close to a deal with Cincy.. Bring em back Mikey!!

T.O. should be signed. Period. It wouldn’t mean that Andre Caldwell has regressed. What does that even mean? Caldwell went from clueless 11catch rookie to a 50 catch integral part of the passing game in his second year. And he should only get better. Caldwell is solid. But he’s a different kind of receiver than T.O.-they would complement one another. Simpson is another matter. They may hope he finally steps up, but I haven’t seen or read anything attributable to the coaching staff that would lead me to believe that they are counting on him. The simple fact is that the Bengals could use another veteran receiver that they know would be able to contribute in the passing game right now, if only for a year or two. Likewise, although I fully expect the Bengals to address the WR position in the draft, it would be almost foolhardy to expect any rookie to step right in and be a big contributor right away. If T.O. was willing to come in as a #3 receiver, his signing would make too much sense. Waiting until after the draft would make no sense at all, since a rookie WR wouldn’t bring to the table what T.O. would. Hopefully, the Bengals FO and ML will pay heed to Carson Palmer on this one.