The Cincinnati Bengals drafted Dezmon Briscoe in the sixth round of the 2010 NFL draft. He signed and all was well while many wide receivers competed for that sixth spot on the roster. Because the team made another collosal mistake and kept Jerome Simpson and Quan Cosby, there was virtually no room left on the roster for Briscoe. So they waived him in the hopes of signing him to the practice squad. After clearing waivers, the Bengals waited on Briscoe who was fielding another offer from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
According to an NFL.com report at the time, the Buccaneers signed Briscoe to a $310,000 deal on the practice squad, which is unheard of for any NFL team. The standard going rate for a practice squad player is typically around $5,200 a week. Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis was asked about it when the Bengals faced the Buccaneers in early October.
"When you overpay a guy on the practice squad, you create a problem for teams,'' Lewis said. "I don't know that teams want to set that precedent and they did with Dez.
"That's not a great precedent for teams to set as we try to keep the NFL and doing the things we're trying to do as a league. It's still a league of 32 teams and things are put together a certain way.''
The Buccaneers finally promoted Briscoe from the practice squad to their 53-man roster on Tuesday. So now we're back on watch: Will Briscoe out perform Simpson, thus proving that the Bengals got one wrong? Or will Simpson finally step up and prove the coaches right about being patient and all of that totally-not-fan-friendly jazz?