Bengals made offer. The question now, from a Cincinnati Bengals view, is what, if any offer was made to T.J. Houshmandzadeh that caused him to keep our little team on his map. Well, the money? Of course. Like, more than what Plaxico Burress and Hines Ward got, writes Joe Reedy.
Houshmandzadeh is weighing offers from three teams – the Bengals, Vikings and Seahawks. After a meeting at Vikings’ headquarters that lasted over five hours, he is in Minneapolis overnight.
The Bengals have been in discussions with McGuire and have an offer on the table higher than the deals of Plaxico Burress (five years, $35 million with $11 million guaranteed) and Hines Ward (five years, $33 million).
What do you guys think? That's a lot of bank, and could hurt our cap in 2009; however 2010 and beyond project to be uncapped seasons -- 2011 especially since the league will come to a work stoppage after the NFL draft if no CBA is agreed. Also, he signs, and we can put to bed any need to work on our wide receivers during the NFL draft allowing us to dig deeper into improving other areas. There also are unsubstantiated reports that the Vikings offered three years with $9 million a year.
So maybe it wasn't the money that kept the Bengals on his map.
We think the three teams, and why they're considered breaks down into the following.
Vikings - Most competitive team
Seahawks - Team that offered Houshmandzadeh the most
Bengals - Sentimental reasons, being pestered by Carson Palmer and boy Chad Johnson still on the team.