I admit, when there's a "story of the day" or something close to it, I bleed it to a bloody pulp. Chad Johnson. Yes, we're back again. ESPN's John Clayton, via Rotoworld, said that he believes there's only a 20% chance that the Bengals will trade wide receiver, Chad Johnson. Only 20%?

Via Clayton, the Bengals are looking for a first-round and a third-round pick. Considering his age, uncertainty about his 2008 season, and likelihood that he'd demand a new contract, it would seem that the asking price could be a bit steep. There's two points of view that can be (and are right now being) argued here.

Johnson, at one point in his career, was elite, if not the most exciting wide receiver in football. He could score from anywhere on the football field, make awesome over-the-shoulder receptions, beat elite cornerbacks like Champ Bailey and make those body-go-limp catches on the sidelines like no other. He went to the Pro Bowl in five consecutive seasons, made two 1st-team All-Pro squads, led the NFL in yards receiving and ranks 14th among active receivers with 612 receptions. He once recorded 260 yards receiving in 11 catches in one game and reached the 200-yard receiving plateau one other time.

Face it, the guy could put up gaudy numbers. Many of us also recognize that if it wasn't for Johnson, then Houshmandzadeh wouldn't have had his name screwed up in fantasy football commercials. But that's speculative. Houshmandzadeh by himself was pretty good -- but would he have become as effective if not without Johnson? Defenses clearly feared Johnson, sitting back on the deep pass, often allowing Houshmandzadeh to roam underneath. We're not saying one way or the other, but I think the argument is there.

However, all the awesome-O that Chad produced came before 2008. Then he publicly went off about the Bengals. He didn't get a requested surgical procedure during the off-season that eventually set his timeline back; evident by the struggles that Johnson and Carson Palmer had because they were unable to work together during the off-season, thus slow on getting their timing together. He hurt his shoulder, but soldiered on. He was suspended a Thursday Night game against the Pittsburgh Steelers because he was late (overslept) for a team meeting that night and, reportedly, had a problem when Bob Bratkowski told him to wake up (or sit up). He caught more than five receptions only once and failed to record more than 79 yards receiving in one game.

The points here are that: 1) he was great and might be again 2) we have no idea what he's going to be about in 2009.

If there's any suspicion that 2008 wasn't an aberration, then teams aren't likely to fork over a first and a third. Then there's the whole new contract that most veteran players get after a trade. Not only would they give up two players drafted in rounds that are often considered foundation pieces, but how can you trade off a 30-plus-year old receiver for two 20-year old players that will likely be with your organization for 4-6 seasons (depending on how the new CBA is crafted)? The argument here is that Johnson is proven, while two draft picks aren't and the cap space issues are minimal through the first few seasons of a well-constructed deal.

Ultimately, whatever the Bengals are offered is what other teams see in Johnson. If they see the guy during his string of five Pro Bowls in five seasons, then a first and third round pick could be offered. However, if they see anything like what we saw in 2008, then in the simplest terms, no way.

Last off-season, around this time, we wrote that Chad Johnson is forgoing his $250,000 workout bonus while demanding to be traded. Obviously, while not attending voluntary off-season programs, Johnson figured that it would let the team know he was serious. Unfortunately for Johnson, he learned that the team was more serious about keeping him than Johnson was about being traded. So he eventually returned.

But that $250,000 workout bonus didn't.

Since last year's show was apparently so amusing, he figured that the fans, teammates and coaches wanted an encore. James Walker writes that Johnson is risking his $250,000 workout bonus by sitting out of voluntary workouts.

According to Ocho Cinco's contract, the five-time Pro Bowler will squander a workout bonus of $250,000 for not participating in this year's offseason program. Most players are required to take part in at least 80 to 90 percent of the voluntary program to earn workout bonuses.

+ One would think that when a team like the New York Giants release wide receiver Plaxico Burress, that veteran wide receiver Chad Johnson could receive some chatter for trade possibilities. After their first-round pick (29th overall), the Giants have two second-round picks; the 45th overall thanks to the Jeremy Shockey trade. However, Chad Johnson is simply not on the early-mention trading radar -- that's going to younger receivers like Anquan Boldin, Braylon Edwards and Brandon Marshall.

Then there is this belated April Fool's article from Bleacher Report that the Oakland Raiders packaged running back Michael Bush and their second round pick for Johnson. Well, we hope for Bleacher Report's sake that it's a belated April Fool's joke; this is the type of stuff that wrecks sites and publications if there's any belief into the authenticity to the piece. We figure that if you throw enough crap at the wall, some of it is bound to stick. Right?

Several minutes after reading that piece, PFT posts a question wondering if Chad is on the trading block, referring to Jason Cole's piece that we examined a few days ago, in which states that Mike Brown told half of his four friends that Johnson is on the trading block.

Chad Johnson isn't with the team to start the offseason program, writes James Walker.

"I'm not worried about him; I'm worried about the guys we have here," Palmer said at a news conference Monday. "The guys that want to be here and want to work now are the guys who are in the locker room right now and are here today."

Geoff Hobson did write:

Indications were that wide receiver Chad Ocho Cinco wasn't in the building, although he is expected to begin working out in Los Angeles with Charles Collins, his junior college coach. Palmer said he hasn't spoken to Ocho Cinco and wouldn't comment on his absence, saying he's focused on the players that are here.

Whether or not we can call this a mini-protest, demanding to be traded again, is beyond us. This could be an influence from Houshmandzadeh to workout while in California, nothing more, or it could be bona-fide demand to be traded -- or at least to promote your refusal to be with your teammates.

[Note: whether or not it's legally his name, we're still not willing to call Chad Johnson, Chad Ocho Cinco]

There has been considerable amount of talk about whether or not Chad Johnson will show up for this week's offseason condition program; which kicks off Monday at Paul Brown stadium. Johnson has been Hollow Man for the past few months, causing people to speculate that he's forming another mini-protest after learning that over-whelming the media with disgruntled interviews leading to a self-imposed embarrassment that didn't quit work last season.

The irony in all this is that when he's not talking, people think he's "disgruntled". However, when he's talking, people know that he's "disgruntled". Fellas, he's disgruntled. Newsflash. You're blown away, aren't you? Nope. It's been a sad truth over the course of the calendar year that he's set up a situation by making his demands known. Now, no matter what he does, every little action of his will be construed as being ulterior -- thus he hides away like the prey hides from the predator.

The Bengals do not know if the former Pro Bowl receiver will show up next week. His participation, or lack thereof, could be an indicator of whether he still wants to be traded or will get with the program this year in Cincinnati. Last year, Ocho Cinco caused a huge media circus by publicly expressing his desire to be traded while not showing up to Bengals camp until it was mandatory.

Another irony is that all that's happened in the past 15 months, it's literally crushed his trade value and the demand that other teams may have for him.

No matter what Johnson does, people will speculate that he wants to be traded and will do whatever he can to make that happen. We get it. Johnson wants to be traded. Great. Making note of every little nuance of Johnson's actions, words, inactions, or golden teeth, reminding us that Johnson wants to be traded, becomes a terrible waste of our time -- the irony of me talking about it right now, not included, of course. Conjecture and speculation, with a weighted history behind the argument, is great. People use that when forecasting the weather, mock drafts, revised economic policies and Manbearpig.

Hopefully, if Johnson doesn't show up for offseason programs, there won't be just as many articles about his lack of participation/presence from the national media, as there will be all the combined press regarding the other players. Maybe we just don't care. After all, they're just running, lifting and such, right? Is there a need here? Sure there is. All of you will come here to check out who has the healthiest hamstrings, hoping for an update for Carson Palmer -- the God of Golden Arms. But declaring Johnson's absence as a means for being disgruntled? We need the offseason program to forecast that? Whether he comes to camp or not, he's disgruntled. It's as easy as that.

First of all, I wanted to thank Chris for his awesome work Thursday while I was "indisposed". Apparently the people at work expect me to get paid for some things. The nerve, I know. One thing that Chris touched on was Drew Rosenhaus. I wanted to provide my take on it too.

It's pretty evident that super-agent Drew Rosenhaus will lay foundations that are partly (if not completely) untrue driving the market towards his interests. That is, after all, what an agent does. However, Rosenhaus (who we've nicknamed Oil Slick for a long time now) isn't without probable damage to his clients. Last year, we believed that it was Rosenhaus that masterminded Chad Johnson's character suicide campaign. That was evident when Oil Slick left Cincinnati to negotiate Plaxico Burress' two-year contact extension (which came to five years, $35 million) and surprisingly Chad Johnson returned to the fold; with such good behavior that he seemed sedated. From then to now, Johnson is viewed as an incredibly selfish player, challenging Terrell Owens' for most annoying wide receiver even though the 30-plus year old receiver produced the worst season of his career.

This week Rosenhaus sent a letter to all 32 teams, Mike Garafolo of the Star-Ledger reported, promoting that Plaxico Burress, Anquan Boldin and Chad Johnson are available via trade. At first we wondered why 32 teams, considering that the 32nd team would be the team that the wide receiver is playing for. Then we realized that the letter would likely have the most effect, therefore causing teams to focus on Rosenhaus' clients, if not working out extensions that directly inflate Oil Slick's banks.

Rosenhaus responds to that:

“Let me clarify the rules.  Teams cannot talk to an agent about a player who is under contract, but there’s no limits on what an agent can try and do to help his client,” Rosenhaus explained.  “You know, the bottom line is that I get paid by my clients to advance their agenda, not the teams’ agendas.  And there’s no rule that prohibits me from talking to teams about any of my clients.”

Oil Slick also said, “Let me just say in general that as an agent I can do whatever I want."

So what about Chad Johnson? After all, it seemed that he was cool being in Cincinnati now, and that all the disgruntled BS that he promoted last year was behind us. Joe Reedy grabs a Rosenhaus quote about that:

“You know, here’s the deal with Chad. Last year we were very outspoken about what we wanted. This year we are going to operate behind the scenes. The bottom line is that’s a communication thing that is going to take place completely between myself and the Bengals organization.”

What's there to communicate? Even if there's a trade to be worked out, Johnson's no longer valuable enough to give us any type of return. A trade would only reduce the selfishness in the team's lockerroom that he's characterized as. Furthermore, which team out there would offer the extension that Oil Slick believes that Johnson is worth?

In the end, I'm more inclined to be soft on Johnson with this, because we've seen when Oil Slick becomes active in Johnson's affairs, that's when we begin hating on Johnson.

You knew that 2008 was going to be a rough season when the days preceding Super Bowl XLII was heavily inundated by Chad Johnson interviews. Not the kind funny man that we once knew, no. This was a different Chad Johnson, with a calm, premeditated demeanor that some of us believed was orchestrated by our favorite Oil Slick.

When Jim Rome asked Chad in late January if he wants to be traded, Chad simply replied, "I'm going to leave that to the Shark (agent Drew Rosenhaus)." For most of the interview, Chad was very self-centric, explaining that he felt as the victim of some scapegoat conspiracy; even proposing himself as the team's best player. John Clayton, around the same time, said that his angle for a trade was simply positioning himself for a new contract. Before all this started, I was pretty confident that I could defend Chad on nearly anything. Not because he was my favorite player (Willie Anderson held that mantle), but my impression at the time was when he started being known in the NFL, he made cheering for the Bengals fun as hell. Not for just his play, but his mouth, celebrations and all that jazz. Being a fan of a team that was miserable before 2003 (at the time), I was thrilled with the change. It was refreshing.

People broke out archives, calculators and pencils with thick eraser ends. What was the salary cap hit if the Bengals would trade Johnson. Numbers weren't adding up. I came up with a lower number. Geoff Hobson reported somewhere in the $5-7 million range -- who then upped his number inside the $6-8 million range a few days later. Mark Curnutte released a report that modified his number from $8.8 million to $8.03 million -- the accepted number.

A source told Chris Mortensen the following week that Johnson would sit if he wasn't traded. Johnson also claimed that Lewis stopped talking to him, feeling betrayed. Oil Slick went into damage control, releasing videos, eventually promising that Johnson would, in fact, play in 2008. Another early February report was released that two unnamed General Managers figured a team could get Johnson with a low first-round pick and a third-round pick. An unnamed coaching candidate claimed that Redskins' owner Daniel Snyder was interested in trading for an elite receiver.

Marvin Lewis finally said that a trade wasn't happening. "They can stop the presses, quit killing trees and move on to other things." However, the Bengals decided they weren't going to let Chad Johnson dictate their actions, when a Washington Times sports reporter said, "two Cincinnati sources told me that there's no way that the Bengals will let Rosenhaus force them to trade Chad Johnson no matter how badly the unhappy Pro Bowl receiver wants to be a Redskin."

Late in February, we were closer to the belief that the Bengals would hold onto Johnson. We wrote that "the issue of team unity and chemistry, should be more worrisome", calling for Johnson and head coach Marvin Lewis to mend their broken fence.

Then, out of nowhere, Shaun Smith said that Chad Johnson threw a punch during the notorious Half-Time breakdown during the Bengals Wild Card game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. "He swung on Marvin. . . . [Johnson] shattered the training room glass. . . . He swung on Marvin [and] hit Marvin in the eye. . . . Then he tried to swing on wide receivers coach Hue Jackson, who's now in Baltimore." The Bengals and Johnson refused comment.

On April Fools day, Lewis reiterated that Johnson is going nowhere, opening up a bit. "Unfortunately Chad put himself in that situation," Lewis said. "A lot of people who really had an affection for him fan-wise and people around the league see him in a different light and that's unfortunate. Some of the things he's gone on record and said one way or the other he's going to have to deal with them one way or the other." Chad was definitely killing his character -- thus, our name for his Character-suicide Campaign. Rumors started popping up about other interested teams, like the Eagles and Cowboys.

When Chris Henry was released, it became more apparent that the Bengals would keep Johnson. Then, Peter King released this nugget that eventually won support from the fans, media and especially the players.

I think this is the scene at the NFL meetings that few who saw it will soon forget. Agent Drew Rosenhaus, who is trying to engineer a hostile takeover of Chad Johnson's status with the Cincinnati Bengals and force a trade, was in close conversation with Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis. Rosenhaus was gesturing and speaking quickly while Lewis stood straight up, arms folded across his chest, looking stern and mostly saying nothing. It went on for a few minutes, and Lewis kept his arms folded with a stone face.

We enjoyed that Lewis wasn't going to be bullied by Oil Slick. That was nice. However, even though we believed that Johnson wouldn't get traded, our growing belief that trading him was becoming priority. Worried about distractions, potential locker-room cancer, and the likelihood of a decent return from a team investing in his trade, too much made sense for trading him. So by now we're really on that wagon.

Then, the notorious trade offer was made. ESPN originally broke the story claiming that the Bengals refused two first-round draft picks in 2008 and 2009. The Redskins had a deal in place to give Johnson $21 million in guaranteed money. PFT claimed tampering charges on Oil Slick and Snyder for working a deal with a player already under contract. Lewis denied all.

Oil Slick began a last ditch effort I termed "Begging Like Weasels", right before the trade, pleading to the Bengals that a trade be made. Jay Glazier said on the same day.

"It's too late to salvage this. People just don't understand how bad it has gotten. Last year, in a team meeting before a game...coaches asked if anyone had a problem with Chad. Carson Palmer stood up and said, "yea, I have a problem with him". Chad and Carson began arguing. Chad was screaming at Carson in the middle of the room"

Later we learned that the trade offer was a first round pick in 2008, and a conditional third round pick in 2009. The conditions? If Johnson recorded 80 receptions, the Bengals would receive the Redskins 2009 second-round pick. If he caught 95 passes, that pick is further upgraded to a first-round pick. Merrill Hoge said that the Bengals wanted two first round picks, no exceptions or conditions.

Then the thawing began. When Johnson showed up in Cincinnati during mandatory camps, the headlines were furious. For a time, Johnson, wearing jersey and helmet, meandered around, hands on hip, watching his peers run drills. Then he started running drills, showing up for meetings, and then fully practiced. All in the same day. Apparently, it was an ankle injury that slowed his morning up slightly; so it was claimed.

Johnson and Lewis were caught talking, and the brief conversation went like this.

Marvin Lewis: "When you gonna come give me some love?"
Chad Johnson: "Ain’t no love no more. It’s business."
Marvin Lewis: "Oh, okay. Good. Business is playing."

Later, Johnson said to Lewis, "It’s scary when you got someone great, and he’s playing pissed off." Lewis laughed it off. Then, out of nowhere, Johnson was fully back. Talking shop with Palmer, going through drills, leaving his frustrations out of the press. Chad had a procedure done on his ankle (that he should have done after the win against Miami in 2007, as requested by the team), then tore his labrum against the Green Bay Packers in pre-season game #1.

Johnson became a teammate, said the right things. When he was booted from Pittsburgh before a Thursday night game, he was apologetic and immensely remorseful. When asked about the offense's woes, he said the right things.

Johnson would go on to have his worst career season. Hurt late in the season, Johnson would sit out the final two games. But Johnson in 2008 was a roller coaster. Thank god 2008 is over.

It showed up in my news feed this morning. Chad Johnson deactivated. There was no reason for it, it was written, so we weren't sure what happened; just that he violated team rules. Two thoughts came to mind: 1) This will dominate the headlines, putting the Bengals into another welcome spotlight and 2) That trade proposal with the Redskins, or anything like that in the future, is long gone.

Adam Schefter wrote that Chad Johnson got into it with someone. Brad Johansen wrote that he overslept and missed a team meeting. Chris Mortensen reported that Chad Johnson got into a verbal confrontation with a coach. Yes, his vague discovery came nearly five hours after the reports surfaced, in an effort to "report it".

Jay Glazier details the best yet.

A few local reports have surfaced that alleged that the receiver overslept and arrived late for a team meeting Wednesday night at the Bengals practice facility. Sources confirmed Ocho Cinco arrived late and was extremely groggy. After taking his seat, Bengals offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski told Ocho Cinco to sit up straight in his seat. After the receiver refused, Bratkowski again repeated his demand.

At that point, Ocho Cinco stood up and walked out of the meeting altogether. After shouting at his player to return, Lewis chased him down and lashed into the former All-Pro -- finally telling Johnson to go home.

This absolutely conflicts with what Johansen wrote on his blog, that Johnson was "begging" Lewis to play against the Steelers. Johansen made it sound like Lewis suspended Johnson for the game, and Johnson accepted it, appreciated it and understood it. However, Glazer's report suggests Johnson was disobedient from the start with an attitude that would obviously get him into trouble (did character-suicide campaign resume?), walked out of the team meeting after Bob Bratkowski told him to sit up straight. Johnson left the meeting and Lewis tracked him down, eventually telling him to just go home.

Depending on the sources associated with the published reports, different scenarios could emerge. If Glazer is more accurate, Johnson could find himself suspended for the rest of the season -- ala Eagles and Terrell Owens. This blogger would support it too. Based on Johansen's report, it's fair to say that this will be a one-time incident, done and (not likely) forgotten. Hobson confirms, based on indications (can one confirm based on assumptions?), that Lewis did most of the shouting during their "shouting match".

In the end, Adam Schefter's report is probably the one you want to hang on right now. It doesn't detail much, like the conflicting reports above, simply stating that "Johnson got into it last night with someone in the Cincinnati organization and left a team function." Though it's hard to ignore Glazer's report.

Thank god we're playing Thursday night. We'll need the entire weekend just to sort this all out.

UPDATE: Another conflict. Ken Broo said during Channel 5's "Ready to Roar" one-hour pregame show that Chad Johnson actually feel asleep during the team meeting; no acknowledgment that he was late to the meeting. However, he recapped exactly what Glazer said. Bratkowski told Chad to pay attention, and Johnson "stormed out".

UPDATE II: A Jesus moment. After posting this piece and reading something else, I did a Google News search on Chad Johnson. My post came up six minutes after I published it. When I saw that, I said Jesus. Hence, my Jesus moment. That is all for this update.