Chad Ochocinco to the Patriots: 5 Reasons Ocho Will Flourish in New England

In the biggest move of Thursday’s wild day of free agent signings and trades, Chad Ochocinco has been shipped up north to the New England Patriots.

The Cincinnati Bengals will receive a late pick in the 2012 and 2013 draft in return.

For the second time in one day, the Patriots acquire a player the other team was dying to get rid of with Albert Haynesworth, and now Ochocinco.

Does that mean the Pats just traded for a washed up receiver?

Not quite.

There is still plenty of gas in the Ocho tank ,and the Pats were brilliant for swooping in and gobbling him up for such a cheap price.

Here are five reasons why Ochocinco will be making Patriot fans and fantasy owners proud.

5. Takes Exceptional Care of His Body

From the surface, you would assume the 34-year old is the ultimate partier. He has never met a camera he didn’t like, and he is addicted to Twitter (seriously, he needs rehab).

Chad has even tweeted pictures of himself out at night clubs bumpin-and-grindin with famous people.

But guess what?

Chad doesn’t drink…or smoke.

Aside from an occasional cigar, Ocho has never been a drinker and calls red bull and cranberry his drink of choice.

With the amount of partying most players in the NFL, it takes a toll after years of living the lifestyle

Aside from Ochocinco’s odd cravings for McDonald’s, this guy knows what he’s doing when it comes to training and preparing his body for the brutal 16 game season.

4. Freed From Rapidly Declining Carson Palmer

It’s not as if Carson Palmer has sunken to the level of Derek Anderson or Ryan Fitzpatrick, but it’s crystal clear that he isn’t the same player of half a decade ago.

In 2005, Palmer was an elite QB, throwing for 3,836 yards with 32 TDs and 12 INTs. He was extremely accurate and had a zip on his passes few other players had. Palmer and Ochocinco (Johnson at the time) were one of the top dynamic duos in the league.

It came to a crashing halt when he tore his ACL in the playoffs.

He recovered to put up solid seasons in 06’ and ’07 before succumbing to a nasty elbow injury early in the ’08 campaign. He had the option of undergoing Tommy John surgery or letting it heal naturally. He chose the latter option.

It was a controversial decision, and in two seasons since the injury, he hasn’t looked the same. His accuracy has dipped substantially, and he rarely even attempts to stretch the field.

Chad’s two biggest strengths—going deep and sharp precision routes over the middle—were negated and Ochocinco was not being used correctly.

Their relationship began to strain over the years, and the old married couple clearly needed a divorce.

3. Rosy Relationship with Belichick

It’s pretty clear these two have wanted to hook up for some time now. There was the buddy-buddy conversation they had on the sidelines of an ’09 preseason game that was captured by the HBO Hark Knocks cameras. Then there were the glowing comments the two players had for each other before playing one another last season:

Belichick on Chad:

"

"I like Chad. I like him as a player. I like him as a person. I like his enthusiasm and the fun he has with football, and I like how he competes on the football field. I have a lot of respect for that. [We’re] an odd couple, but in the end, I think we have a lot of things in common."

"

Ochocinco on Belichick:

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"Bill and I got very well acquainted once we got to the Pro Bowl and got to know each other. It became a relationship beyond just a football player and a coach. He became a friend of mine. He has a lot of respect for me in my game, and I have a lot of respect for him in everything he’s done as a coach. We just became really close and fond of each other’s work. He’s one that I look up to tremendously, one that I’ve never played for, but I show the same respect as if he was my own head coach."

"

The comments speak for themselves.

2. He is Released From Bengaldom

Ochocinco was a huge part of the franchise for 10 years.

He was a top five receiver back during the magical ’05 season that was wrecked by a Carson Palmer knee injury.

He made Cincinnati a cool place to play again, and the positive vibes infected the locker room…. but never the front office.

The cold hard reality is that the Bengals are only interested in being competitive—not winning Super Bowls.

All fingers can be pointed at Mike Brown.  Look no further than the current situation of Carson Palmer for that.

The team that had the worst record in the 90s underachieved for the better part of the 2000s. Rookies are never signed on time, and free agents bolt out of town the minute they can. The family business is terribly run and it sucks the life out of the players.

Why do you think only guys with baggage even consider playing for a team that is notorious for their penny pinching?

It’s a hopeless situation that is clearly not getting any better.

1. Tom Brady and Wes Welker

Pretty easy…Brady is the greatest QB of this generation, and Welker is one of the top receiving threats in today’s game.

Brady has been able to turn around the career of Randy Moss with ease. He turns special team players like Julian Edelman into legit receiving threats.

He is the ultimate leader and commands respect from all of his teammates. Chad will be all ears when Brady speaks. He will keep Ochocinco focused on the next play…not the next tweet.

Welker is the sort of slot receiver Chad hasn’t had since TJ Houshmandzadeh left town. The one-two punch is a nightmare for teams with slower corners and poor tacklers. Both players have breakaway speed after the catch, and both are excellent route runners.

Throw in a top notch O-Line, and it’s going to be a monster season for Ochocinco in 2011.