Memo to Bengals: Trade Chad Johnson

In response to the following article by Bengals columnist Mark Curnette from the March 24, 2008, Cincinnati Enquirer:

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/AB/20080324/SPT02/303240118/

If Mike Brown knew what he was doing and wasn't a dickless wonder, Marvin Lewis wouldn't have the dual role of being both a GM and a coach.

2005 was a fluke season where everything (despite Mikey Boy's best efforts) gelled. Most diehard Bengal fans know the only thing Mike cares about is putting 66,000 butts in a stadium he doesn't deserve. As long as the team is turning a profit, who cares about the on-field performance?

The Bengals need more scouts (they have the smallest scouting office in the league) and someone to take over the GM duties from Marvin so that he can concentrate on the players once they (god help 'em) sign with them.

In retrospect, there was nothing more appropriate than Kimo tearing Palmer's ACL in that playoff game. Where else but in Cincinnati would the star quarterback get injured two snaps into the first playoff game the town's seen in 15 years?

Look, I'm a Cincy guy born and raised, I vaguely remember the lore of the "Jungle" years of the 1980s and guys like Munoz, Esiason, Woods and the outspoken-but-always-entertaining Sam Wyche, but the organization in its current form is an absolute joke.

It pains me to see guys like Carson Palmer, T.J. Houshmenzadeh and Willie Anderson waste their talent playing for a team like the Bengals.

While I can't stand Ocho Sucko's antics, I don't blame him for not wanting to play in Cincinnati anymore. You couldn't pay me $8 million a year to play for an organization run by someone as clueless and thick-headed as Mike Brown.

If Mikey Boy really cared about the progress of his father's team, he'd eat the salary cap penalty and ship Ocho Sucko off to someplace he wants to go (Oakland, Dallas, Washington, wherever) for the sake of team unity. Palmer says he hasn't paid attention to Johnson's antics, but I don't buy that for a second. How can anyone on that team not be affected by this negative crap?

If Mike lets Johnson sit on the bench as a Bungle during the 2008 season as he's threatened to do, I hope the Bengals’ organization folds within the next five years. Maybe then, a place deserving of an NFL team (Los Angeles, anyone?) will finally get one and (gasp) care about the on-field performance as much (if not more) than the yearly profits.

Let’s face it, Paul Brown's body stopped spinning in its grave the moment the Cleveland Browns became potential AFC North contenders. He ain't watching the Bengals from heaven shaking his head, he's rooting for the Browns, and to some extent, I don't blame him.