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Bengals sign Shaun Alexander if available?

By Josh Kirkendall

John Clayton raises an interesting, though terrifying prospect. Read for yourself:

On chopping block: With deals to acquire T.J. Duckett and Julius Jones in the backfield, the Seahawks will have to do something with Shaun Alexander. Cutting or trading him doesn't have much of an impact on the cap. They would lose $150,000 of cap room by trading him. If they put the June 1 cut on him, they would save $4.475 million of cap room. That might be the best option. Before the Jones signing, the Seahawks had around $4 million of cap room. With more than $9 million of the cap being eaten up by Marcus Trufant's franchise tag, the release of Alexander might serve them better. It will be hard to get great trade value for him with his contract.

One interesting option for Alexander could be the Cincinnati Bengals. Alexander grew up in Florence, Ky., and has already been popular around Cincinnati. For years, there were plenty of rumors that the Bengals might try to acquire him in a trade. Rudi Johnson didn't have his best season last year and backup Chris Perry has been hurt for years. If he's released, the Bengals might be an intriguing option for the former league MVP.

Alexander in Cincinnati? Several seasons ago, when Alexander was an unrestricted free agent, support was strong for Cincinnati bringing Alexander home. That support, along with the mirrored degradation between he and Rudi Johnson, is likely low -- do we want another shell of a frustrating running back? The Bengals have a roster of young, though unproven, running backs. If the team picks up Alexander, who would be forced to take a low deal comparative to his last contract, the Bengals wouldn't likely keep Rudi Johnson -- signed for another two seasons with base salaries of $3.45 million and $3.6 million respectively. Cutting or trading Johnson would save the Bengals nearly $3 million in cap space.

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