Mike Brown: Pay Underpaid TJ!

It’s time we start to talk about something that is clearly on the minds of Bengals fans everywhere. In early February we heard rumblings about how the Bengals were beginning talks with TJ Houshmandzadeh to sign him to a new contract. Today is April 9^th and still no new contract.

As a matter of fact, the entire process seems to have died down. Granted, the Bengals wanted to see how they could improve their team through free agency early in the off-season, as many teams do. In addition, it seems that huge signings from the Bengals go largely unmentioned until they drop the bomb (i.e.Carson's huge deal a few years back.) However, at this point enough is enough.

I am sick of hearing about how we are now turning our attention to signing our own players, but no talk of signing our most productive receiver who just happens to be tough as nails and a true team player (so far.) He is 100% our most consistent receiver, has great hands, and is totally willing to go across the middle and get killed to make the big play. With the loss of Chris Henry and the ongoing saga with Chad, resigning TJ becomes even MORE of a priority.

My worries now turn to the fact that I’m not even sure if we have the cap room to sign TJ to a long term deal (with a decent signing bonus).  Is there really a chance we just kind of “forgot” to think about his new contract until it was too late? Wouldn’t surprise me one bit! If so, this could turn out to be one of the biggest front office failures in the entire NFL. 

Mark my words, TJ will become very outspoken if something doesn’t get done soon, and I can’t say I blame him one bit. Unlike "CEOcho Cinco", TJ consistently produces, keeps his mouth shut, cares about his team, and is absolutely deserving of a lucrative long term extension.

According to USA Today, Chad Johnson’s 2007 salary cap value was $7,615,370, making him the 4^th highest paid receiver in the NFL behind Terrell Owens, Marvin Harrison, and Tory Holt. Certainly not under compensated by any means. By contrast, in 2007, TJ ($3,288,580) was the 34^th highest paid receiver in the NFL in terms of cap value behind names such as Kevin Curtis ($6,336,453), David Givens ($5,704,320) and Bobby Wade ($4,800,000.) I think that speaks volumes of how incompetent it would be not to give him the money he deserves.

The bottom line is that football is a business.  In running that business, it is the job of the ownership and team brass to compensate their players both competetively and deservingly.  So Mike Brown, if you're reading this, PLEASE PAY UNDERPAID TJ!!!
 

 

Comments

[Mike]

This post is pretty one-sided. Larry Fitzgerald just signed a ridiculous contract (4 years/$40 million) that is going to affect how other receivers are paid. It goes without saying that everyone loves TJ and that he is a great player in the lockeroom and on the field. That being said, TJ is 30 years old. The way these WR contracts are these days, he's going to try to get 5 or 6 more years. And he probably will be able to get it somewhere for a significant amount of money per year. I love TJ. I have a TJ jersey. But you have to look at his age and the fact that we can franchise him next year and delay the decision. If he's going to demand $8 million over 5 or 6 years, it's not something that we should automatically just do with a 30 year old. Franchising him for a year should be considered.

I don't think TJ is broken down like Willie but I think you have to look at the Willie Anderson contract signed and how ridiculous it was to give an older player that long of a contract (5 years).

Did I say I love TJ? Because I do. But this is what the Patriots have done that have made them so great over the years. They don't over extend players and they cut ties when they need to (Ty Law, Lawyer Milloy, Deoin Branch, etc.).