Schefter: Bengals Reach Deal With Former Raiders LB Thomas Howard

by Jason Garrison on Jul 28, 2011 6:24 PM EDT

As we are all shocked by the news that the Bengals all-time leading receiver, Chad Ochocinco, has been traded to the New England Patriots and as we are all waiting on the news of whether or not the team is going to re-sign cornerback Johnathan Joseph and running back Cedric Benson, comes this news: the Bengals have signed former Raiders linebacker Thomas Howard.

More Bengals moves: Former Raiders LB Thomas Howard reached agreement with Cincinnati on a two-year, $6.5 million contract.less than a minute ago via UberSocial for BlackBerry Favorite Retweet ReplyAdam Schefter
AdamSchefter

Howard was a second-round pick in 2006, and in his five years he's made 390 tackles (324 solo), sacked the quarterback four times, forced four fumbles, intercepted seven passes and recorded two touchdowns.

The news that Howard has been signed to a two-year $6.5 million contract with the team likely means the end of the Dhani Jones and Brandon Johnson era in Cincinnati. Rey Maualuga will move to the middle linebacker position and Brandon Johnson, who is looking to start at linebacker, will probably look to sign elsewhere.

The 2011 offense and defense is beginning to take shape.

Tweet Comment 38 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

johnson could compete and win

But I like the pick, now get Joseph back!

by JCompton41 on Jul 28, 2011 6:25 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

Bad news for Brandon Johnson

He and Howard are very similar players. I don’t see him coming back now with Howard here…

by bengaljohnboy on Jul 28, 2011 6:26 PM EDT reply actions

yup, shame too. BJ deserved a pay day here...

The Curse of Bo Jackson: Jan 13th,1991- present day

by TruWhoDey on Jul 28, 2011 6:26 PM EDT up reply actions

agreed

he plays 100%. I like the guy.

by steveinaz on Jul 28, 2011 6:35 PM EDT up reply actions

more scraps from the raiders.....

are they the only players w/a worse situation than playing in Cincy….hence the only ones who will openly sign here to get away…. Don’t know much about this guy, but by the look of his stats, he’s fine by me

The Curse of Bo Jackson: Jan 13th,1991- present day

by TruWhoDey on Jul 28, 2011 6:26 PM EDT reply actions

hes our starting SAM LB

Very very athletic. Good LB. Got lost in the shuffle last season. Raiders actually are deep at LB

CincyJungle.com Contributor for the NFL Draft
Follow me on Twitter for Bengals & NFL Draft talk
"Sometimes you just have to pick Tomlinson over Justin Smith." - ???

by Joe Goodberry on Jul 28, 2011 6:27 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

yeah, I like him

Very fast , especially for a LB and a solid player.

by Cedric Benson Boat Party on Jul 28, 2011 6:34 PM EDT up reply actions

i wasn't saying i don't liek the guy

i just haven’t heard much about him- doing some research and such and so far i’m liking this move alot….wonder if Dhani and BJ are gone or just Dhani?

The Curse of Bo Jackson: Jan 13th,1991- present day

by TruWhoDey on Jul 28, 2011 6:42 PM EDT up reply actions

I think Brandon Johson is still in play

I believe he was the Bengals special teams captain last season (could be wrong), but I do think Howard’s signing does NOT necessarily preclude them from re-signing Brandon.

Dhani, as you mention, is most certainly done here.

by The_Black_Stripes on Jul 28, 2011 6:31 PM EDT reply actions

hope your right

The Curse of Bo Jackson: Jan 13th,1991- present day

by TruWhoDey on Jul 28, 2011 6:42 PM EDT up reply actions

he was the special teams captain.

it might be hard convincing brandon to stay as a back-up again.

"You gotta look good. Look good, you play good. Play good, pay good. Pay good, live good. Live good, y'know, eat good. Die good." - Deion Sanders

by BeWarned on Jul 29, 2011 1:31 AM EDT up reply actions

Now drop ODOM, resign J JO, side note who is making these deals, Did Marvin actually get “POWER”?

by ashunte23 on Jul 28, 2011 6:31 PM EDT reply actions

Can someone tell me why the Bengals hasnt cut anyone

or is it a big secret that they think someone might care who they cut???

by Primal on Jul 28, 2011 6:34 PM EDT reply actions

Cap room, that's my guess.

If we start to cut people MB will have to spend even more on FA’s

by stripesinseattle on Jul 28, 2011 6:36 PM EDT up reply actions

Purely a numbers game at this point

Teams can bring 90 (NINETY) players to camp – that is a TON of players. No need to cut anyone. Chad was essentially “cut” – glad they got some value for him.

by The_Black_Stripes on Jul 28, 2011 6:50 PM EDT up reply actions

He was,

So he could definetly be back… i for one hope he is!

And good luck to Chad, thanks for all the great thing you’ve done for this organisation!!
- now go get that ring dude, so that HOF 20XX can be locked!

Nice pick with Howard… lets hope J-Joe is the next signing

by Christian Gaarde Nielsen on Jul 28, 2011 6:34 PM EDT reply actions

Interesting player

I could see Howard at either OLB position, depending on what happens. I’m glad to see we’re addressing the front seven.

by Big Sky Bengal on Jul 28, 2011 6:36 PM EDT reply actions

Keep Johnson too

and sit Rivers, until he finds some heart.

by steveinaz on Jul 28, 2011 6:37 PM EDT reply actions

I agree.

Except keep Johnson, cut Rivers.

Follow me on Twitter @BonnieBengal

by BonnieBengal on Jul 28, 2011 6:39 PM EDT up reply actions

I won't go that far

I like Rivers and think he has a load of talent. He just needs a wake-up call, he has barely had his job threatened.

by steveinaz on Jul 28, 2011 6:42 PM EDT up reply actions

whoa whoa whoa

let’s not get ahead of ourselves…..Rivers hasn’t been the explosive playmaker we all wanted, and i have bashed his play in the past, but he’s above avg/young and will get better YoY. cutting Rivers would be a BIG mistake

The Curse of Bo Jackson: Jan 13th,1991- present day

by TruWhoDey on Jul 28, 2011 6:44 PM EDT up reply actions

+1

cutting Rivers would be a horrible mistake

"You gotta look good. Look good, you play good. Play good, pay good. Pay good, live good. Live good, y'know, eat good. Die good." - Deion Sanders

by BeWarned on Jul 29, 2011 1:32 AM EDT up reply actions

Great call

by wiseking on Jul 28, 2011 7:00 PM EDT up reply actions

I hope B. Johnson stays here too..

Love that guy!

Give pizza chants.

by 80%OFTHETIMEIMRIGHTEVERYTIME on Jul 28, 2011 6:38 PM EDT reply actions

I'm a little surprised by this.

We have lots of LB potential. I’m of the opinion that its time for Dhani to go, but I really would like to keep B. Johnson around, and this seems to make that harder.

by stripesinseattle on Jul 28, 2011 6:39 PM EDT reply actions

This also means that they'll keep MJ at DE and Muck will probably just stick around on STs

I wonder what it means for Skuta given the high praise we heard about him a couple weeks ago.

by Paul Cannon on Jul 28, 2011 6:41 PM EDT up reply actions

Muck can challenge for a position

I think he is that good. We are pretty deep at LB now.

by steveinaz on Jul 28, 2011 6:43 PM EDT up reply actions

gives us alot of versitility

Howard, rey, rivers. Moch, rey, mj on passing downs. Mj at de with moch rey rivers, or howard rey moch. As long as we keep Joseph we should be able to blitz the crap out of opposing qbs.

by JCompton41 on Jul 28, 2011 6:45 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Yeah, Moch too, i forgot

Moch, Muck and Maualuga

by steveinaz on Jul 28, 2011 7:13 PM EDT up reply actions

Well, MJ93 belongs at DE IMO

just didn’t figure we’d be in the market for an OLB other than B. Johnson. I do like competition though.

by stripesinseattle on Jul 28, 2011 6:46 PM EDT up reply actions

Interesting, but....

…what about the Offensive line?

by RPMK on Jul 28, 2011 6:41 PM EDT reply actions

Uh-oh, this may explain the signing

From hobson.com:

“There are indications that Rivers underwent wrist surgery and may not be available for what could be the first several weeks of the season.”

by Big Sky Bengal on Jul 28, 2011 6:46 PM EDT reply actions

No loss

So still need to sign B Johnson

by wiseking on Jul 28, 2011 7:01 PM EDT up reply actions

no loss?

really? wow. hard to get love around here.

by nashville_chris on Jul 28, 2011 7:06 PM EDT up reply actions

I loled

I read this comment just after you posted and I’m still smiling.

by FernandoRF on Jul 28, 2011 7:28 PM EDT up reply actions

Thomas Howard

lost his starting job in 2010, was only viewed as depth. not sure i’m ok with us expecting T Howard to start. would have rather we kept B Johnson.

" I for one, welcome our new Buffalo overlords. " - Whokebe

by palewook on Jul 28, 2011 6:47 PM EDT reply actions

+1 Johnson knows the system already

by stripesinseattle on Jul 28, 2011 6:48 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm spending so much time here

it’s looking pretty familiar.

Anyway, on Howard, he’s solid in pass coverage but he sucks against the run. If you guys start him, Rice, Hillis and Mendenhall will be licking their lips.

He’s a great ST guy and plays with a lot of heart, so you’ll probably appreciate him long as you have someone else for run downs.

"In football, I root for the Oakland Raiders because they hire castoffs, outlaws, malcontents, and fuck -ups, they have lots of penalties, fights, and paybacks, and because Al Davis told the rest of the pig NFL owners to go get fucked. Someday, the Raiders will be strong again, and they will dip the ball in shit and shove it down the throats of the wholesome, white, heartland teams that pray together and don't deliver late hits." - George Carlin.

by Screwfish on Jul 28, 2011 7:26 PM EDT reply actions