Posted by Josh Katzowitz

It sounds like Bengals QB Carson Palmer is adamant about not returning to Cincinnati to play football. As in really, really adamant.

According to my buddy, Dennis Janson of WCPO, Palmer told a confidant that “I will never set foot in Paul Brown Stadium again. … I have $80 million in the bank. I don't have to play football for money. I'll play it for the love of the game but that would have to be elsewhere. I'm prepared to live my life."

So, that sounds like he’s serious, and he makes a good point. He has tons and tons of money – in 2005, he signed a six-year extension worth about $118 million – and after starting at QB for the Bengals for seven seasons, he’s probably determined that he just doesn’t need the aggravation anymore.

That’s not to say he wants to retire if he can play for another team. For a squad like the Cardinals – who brought us the trio of Derek Anderson, John Skelton and Max Hall last season – Palmer could be a useful player.

Normally, owner Mike Brown has a habit of saying, “Screw you,” (but in a nicer way) to players who demand things, like trades, to him. Chad Ochocinco knows what I’m talking about. But apparently, the Bengals think Palmer is serious.

And they’ll most likely want to get some kind of return on their investment, so they might very well listen to trade offers for Palmer.

By the way, I assume if Palmer is playing for another team that has to play a road game in Cincinnati, he will actually show up at Paul Brown Stadium on gameday. But, if he can get that written into a new contract, maybe not.

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Posted by Will Brinson

The New York Jets have a pile of people leaving via free agency after this season and a few of them are wide recivers (Braylon Edwards, Santonio Holmes and Brad Smith).

Even if they don't bring those guys back, there might be another option: Chad Ochocinco.

Well, at least if Darrelle Revis has his way -- according to Metro in New York, the wide receiver's been lobbying Ochocinco to join him in the Big Apple. 

"I want Chad to come here and play for us, to be a Jet," Revis said. "I've been in his ear a lot about it this week ... I think he could do well here. I've been telling him to come here."

Ochocinco would actually work out alright with the Jets, because he's a talented wideout (even if he's lost some of his speed) who can still produce and he'd fit especially nicely on the other side of the field from Santonio Holmes.

But there's the small matter of everyone putting up with him. Ocho is a notorious publicity-hound and there's nowhere with a stronger media spotlight in New York.

Though that might seem like a perfect union, the city and the player aren't the only ones who have to put up with the experience. The New York fans would have to be on board (not a problem until he fails to produce) and then there's the collateral damage that is every single other person unable to tune out the noise coming out of the potential new partnership.

Still, the Jets have't shied away from acquiring players of Ochocinco's ilk, so while we can hope it doesn't happen, there's really no reason to rule out the possibility.

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Posted by Josh Katzowitz

DALLAS – Expectations were not high that there would be any kind of new news emerging from commissioner Roger Goodell’s press conference today.

The questions were on point – a high number of labor negotiation questions (including one from Bengals WR Chad Ochocinco), a few regarding player safety and a couple about a potential new team in Los Angeles – but Goodell was masterful in his responses.

Basically, he didn’t say much of anything, minus the same talking points we continue to hear, especially regarding the upcoming lockout (which he refused to call a “lockout”) and other CBA negotiations.

He hammered NFLPA president Kevin Mawae’s previous quote about how the 2006 CBA signing was a great deal for the players, and whenever anybody asked about potential declining revenues for the players based off the last labor agreement, he went back to Mawae’s statement to make his point.

Goodell continued his line that the next few weeks were a window of opportunity. March 3, the final day of the current CBA, also is important, because once that day passes, Goodell said it’s going to be tougher to make a deal.

Other highlights from the presser:

- Despite a recent Associated Press poll that a majority of fans did not want an 18-game schedule, the owners still are adamant about dropping two preseason games in exchange for two regular-season games.

Goodell said he’s talked to numerous fans who feel that preseason games fall below the NFL standards, and since switching out preseason games for regular-season games keeps in place the 20-game schedule, that's the owners goal.

- He described the call of the NFLPA for the owners to open their financial books as a negotiating ploy. He and the owners have said all along that the union has all the relevant financial information it needs in order for the two sides to negotiate a new deal.

- A San Diego reporter asked Goodell about the eventuality of the Chargers moving to L.A. Goodell responded that the NFL wanted to keep all of its teams where they are. But he also said getting a naming rights deal to a potential new stadium in L.A. was a good first step for football returning to that city.



 - Also, in an interview on NFL Network after his presser, Goodell said the owners and union have agreed to two days of negotiating next week.

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Posted by Andy Benoit

You heard that Chad Ochocinco was changing his name back to Chad Johnson, right? Well, scratch that.

Chad has not filed the paperwork, and he recently said to Joe Reedy of the Cincinnati Enquirer , “Did I say that? There’s enough Johnson’s in this world. There’s only one Ocho.”

Thus, all this talk about a name change (or a name unchange – whatever you call readopting your original name) was for nothing.

Is it possible that “Chad Whoever” floated the Johnson idea simply for attention? That doesn’t sound like him…

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Posted by Will Brinson

The Carson Palmer dissatisfaction issue in Cincinnati is an odd one -- the Bengals won't trade their "franchise" quarterback, even though he wasn't very good in 2010. And Palmer, even though the Bengals inexplicably love him, wants out.

Dan Pompei of the National Football Post has some interesting info in his Sunday Blitz though, especially the fact that he hears the apathy in Cincy is a "one-way street." (Running east from Palmer to Brown.)

Reportedly, the team is "taking Palmer off the hook" for his shoddy performance last year and pinning his lack of success on the people that surrounded the quarterback offensively. Pompei writes that the team will "try to rectify the situation by making sure the locker room understands Palmer is the only leader."

Now, without pointing fingers, um, "Terrell Owens." It's also possible that the Bengals could dump Chad Ochocinco, although it might be difficult to put him in the "best situation" with just youngsters Jordan Shipley and Jermaine Gresham serving as receiving options.

Bottom line is this: the Bengals truly believe that Palmer hasn't lost a step performance-wise (arm strength, etc.) and is capable of returning to Pro Bowl form in 2011.

Well, either that or they're doing a hell of a job trying to prop him up as a desirable trade asset for someone like the Vikings or Redskins once the labor situation is sorted out.

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Posted by Will Brinson

Chad Ochocinco, a few years back, was known as "Chad Johnson." But, as one handsome, intrepid reporter discovered, he actually followed through with his name change and became the incorrect, Spanish version of his football jersey.

It appears El Ocho is returning to his roots, however, as he announced on NFL Live that's he's going to change his name back to "Chad Johnson."

"I've done enough with Ocho Cinco," the Bengals wide receiver said to Trey Wingo via telephone.

We'll get to the "enough" thing in just a second, but it's worth noting that he also said "I need to fight my head coach" during the interview, which makes the possibility of a(nother) name change, well, okay, it's still the most interesting thing that happened, but him saying he wants to fight Marvin Lewis on national television is reasonably spicy.

It's also worth noting that he hasn't officially filed the paperwork yet, so don't go burning that Chad Ochocinco ordering that Chad Johnson jersey just quite yet. But, presuming that the Ocho Era truly is coming to an end, let's see how that worked out for the wideout.

Name	Years	Avg Catches	Avg Yards	Avg TDs
Chad Johnson	7 ('01-07)	79.9	1,195	7.0
Chad Ochocinco	3 ('08-10)	64.0	806	5.7

Now, your argument might be, "Hey, jerk! Have you seen Carson Palmer the last three years???" or even "You know he got OLDER, right?"

Fair enough -- but please note that his pre-Ocho average includes his rookie season when he only started three games and only caught 28 passes for 329 yards and one touchdown. (AKA what might be a productive year for him in 2011, zing!)

Take that season out, and while named "Chad Johnson," my man averaged a stupid 88.5 catches, 1,339.3 yards and eight TDs over six seasons.

After that, well, yeah, you can argue reasons other than "more concerned with celebrity than performance" all you want, but it can't be 100 percent coincidence that his production plummeted when he decided to change his name.

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Posted by Josh Katzowitz

Bengals.com Geoff Hobson is your kindly history professor today* as he compares the trade request/demand of QB Carson Palmer to that of former Bengals star Boomer Esiason.

*If your history professor happened to have a thick Boston accent and couldn’t stop talking about Jim Bouton’s “Ball Four” more than 40 years after its release.

Writes Hobson:

When Boomer Esiason secretly slipped into Mike Brown's office to ask for a trade after coach Sam Wyche left following a 3-13 season in 1991, Brown responded by drafting Houston quarterback David Klingler in 1992 and trading Esiason to his hometown New York Jets for a third-round pick after the '92 season.

There were niceties Monday, so maybe that could be in play here.

Although Brown said Monday he would not trade his franchise QB, that’s not necessarily the end of the matter. He could change his mind, I suppose. But there’s also this: as WR Chad Ochocinco will tell you, demanding a trade through the media is not the way to convince Brown of anything.

And there’s this: the trade of Esiason certainly didn’t help the Bengals, a fact I’m sure Brown remembers. Klingler was a disaster, going 4-20 as a starter in Cincinnati and lasting only five more NFL games during the next three seasons after he lost his position.

And FYI Bengals fans, if you need something to distract you from your current malaise, you could always check out this video feature on the oldest cheerleader in the NFL, a Ben-gal. Honestly, I hope I look that good when I'm 42 (um, you know what I mean).

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Posted by Josh Katzowitz

Chad Ochocinco is tremendously sensitive to criticism, especially if it’s by Bengals coach Marvin Lewis. You’ll recall that, a few weeks ago, Lewis called Ochocinco “mopey,” and Ochocinco is still smarting from that comment, saying Lewis cliched him (ie. threw him under the bus).

Well, Ochocinco won’t like the conversation Lewis had with the Boston Herald’s Ian Rappoport today at Senior Bowl practice.

A portion of it:

Herald: (Ochocinco) did send me a message recently about possibly playing with the Patriots. That surprised me…

Lewis: “Belichick’s smarter than that.” (Laughs)

Herald: Well, they did take Randy Moss in ‘07…

Lewis: “Yeah, and what did he do this year?”

Ouch.

In response, Ochocinco added this hash tag to his retweet: “##AssWhoopnTime.”

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