Bluegrassrivals

INDIANAPOLIS – Marvin Lewis is still hopeful about re-signing T.J. Houshmandzadeh.

In an interview with local reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine today, the Bengals coach said he talked to the free-agent wide receiver on Thursday and that there would be enough room under the salary cap to have both him and Chad Ocho Cinco on the roster this season.

On Monday, after the team announced that kicker Shayne Graham had been given the franchise tag, Houshmandzadeh gave his chances of being with another team at “greater than 90 percent.” The free-agent signing period begins in six days.

“With franchising Shayne, it solidifies that spot and now we can go out and compete for T.J. (Houshmandzadeh), Stacy (Andrews), and other free agents down the line,” Lewis said. “The other side of the T.J. thing is he's in a situation of being tentative. Hopefully we can get him signed to a long-term contract that will allow him to go back and be the committed guy he had been in prior years.

“The relationship with T.J. is great. We just have to compete and see where things end up and hopefully we can get him signed and be back. … T.J. means so much to me and this football team. He's a big part of my extension downstairs and even though half the time I'm chewing his butt about something, he understands where the envelope stops and when it's time to go back to being a good leader. He has a great disposition where he can reach everyone in the locker room and he has an air of respect inside the locker room.”

When asked if he could see both Houshmandzadeh and Ocho Cinco not being on the roster next season, Lewis said: “I don’t think that scenario would exist."

If the Bengals were somehow able to reach a deal with Houshmandzadeh, who has caught 90 or more passes each of the last three seasons, he is hopeful of having a player there for offseason workouts. He has skipped the last two..................

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090...00044/1066

D-line

He needs to focus on keeping his players from getting arrested.

GRIFFIN Wrote:D-line

T.J. plays receiver.

If you meant that we need to focus on the defesive line in the offseason, I disagree.

Sims looked great as a rookie and will only be better this season. Peko looked stout last season and got solid penetration sometimes. Shirley is, in my opinion, the steal of the draft and just an animal, and with an offseason free to condition and participate in mini-camp and OTAs, he should be very productive this season.

Magicjefferson25 Wrote:He needs to focus on keeping his players from getting arrested.

Cmon MJ, old news! Three years+ for any Bengal player to be arrested. Things have defintely changed. Pacman's been booted out of the league twice since the last Bengal run in with the law.

BFritz Wrote:T.J. plays receiver.

If you meant that we need to focus on the defesive line in the offseason, I disagree.

Sims looked great as a rookie and will only be better this season. Peko looked stout last season and got solid penetration sometimes. Shirley is, in my opinion, the steal of the draft and just an animal, and with an offseason free to condition and participate in mini-camp and OTAs, he should be very productive this season.

Lewis told the media today that the Bengals have to find a DE that can give them 10+ sacks. He condeded, and it's agreed by most fans that the Bengals are no threat from the edges. The only pressure that the Bengals got from the ends was when they would send a DB on a blitz, giving one of their ends an open lane.

The Bengals go OT with the 1st Pick, and my guess is DE or OLB in the mold of Pollack that can be a Julius Peppers type player.

Stardust Wrote:Lewis told the media today that the Bengals have to find a DE that can give them 10+ sacks. He condeded, and it's agreed by most fans that the Bengals are no threat from the edges. The only pressure that the Bengals got from the ends was when they would send a DB on a blitz, giving one of their ends an open lane.

The Bengals go OT with the 1st Pick, and my guess is DE or OLB in the mold of Pollack that can be a Julius Peppers type player.

I agree that the Bengals pass rush was pretty pathetic last year, but I still don't think that I would draft a DE in the first round. The defense was actually decent this past year, and for once that's not the unit that needs the most help.

It's amazing how much the offense has slid the past couple years, and I trace most of it back to O-line. Carson is getting beat to death, which is making him tentative and not as accurate. The line is also not creating enough holes for the RB's either. Both the guards, Whitworth and Williams, are above-average in my opinion, but tackle and center are awful. Andrews was a big disappointment, Levi Jones is a shadow of his former self, and Ghuiciac is probably the worst center in the league.

They've got to go tackle in the first round, and center in either the second or third. I would be ok with them waiting till the third for the center, if a stud DE drops into their laps in the second round.

We need to work on the o-line I think because that is what stalled our offense last season... that and Carson being hurt too.