The Bengals are calling Chad Johnson’s bluff. Tired of the receiver’s posturing for a trade, coach Marvin Lewis said Tuesday that Johnson should keep his word and sit out the season — the strongest comment yet from an organization that is reluctant to let him go.
Lewis also said that linebacker David Pollack is leaning toward retirement. The former first-round draft pick broke a bone in his neck while making a tackle during the 2006 season and went through months of difficult healing and rehabilitation.
Lewis was pointed in his comments about Johnson. The Pro Bowl receiver has been disgruntled since the middle of last season, when his look-at-me antics came under criticism. He became the epitome of Cincinnati’s 7-9 season when he sniped at quarterback Carson Palmer during a loss to New England. Johnson ran the wrong route on a pass play, resulting in a game-turning interception. He initially blamed Palmer for the problem.
Since the end of last season, Johnson has been lobbying for a trade even though he agreed to a long-term deal with the Bengals two years ago that will pay him $3 million next season and extends through 2010.
DOLPHINS: Miami signed Michigan left tackle to Jake Long to a five-year contract with $30 million guaranteed, and they’ll select him with the top pick in the draft Saturday. The deal allows the Dolphins and Long to avoid a possible holdout. Long becomes the highest-paid lineman in the NFL and a 315-pound cornerstone in a rebuilding project for the new Dolphins regime led by Bill Parcells. Last season Miami went 1-15, and the offensive line has been a chronic problem in recent years.
PANTHERS: Defensive end Mike Rucker said goodbye to football Tuesday, retiring because of injuries from Carolina as the team’s second-leading tackler and one of the franchise’s most beloved players. He spent all nine seasons of his career in Charlotte.
FALCONS: A federal judge denied on Tuesday the NFL’s motion that he vacate his earlier ruling that allows suspended quarterback Michael Vick to keep $16.5 million in bonuses. U.S. District Judge David Doty had ruled in February that the Falcons would violate the NFL collective bargaining agreement if they tried to recover the roster bonus money Vick already received. Vick is serving a 23-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to federal charges in a dogfighting operation. After the plea, the Falcons tried to recover about $20 million in bonuses Vick earned from 2004 to 2007. A court-appointed expert concluded last October that the Falcons were entitled to recover the bonuses, but Doty disagreed, saying the team could only recover his signing bonuses.
Associated Press
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