Report: Chad might sit if no trade

By Mark Curnutte
mcurnutte@enquirer.com

Will Chad Johnson sit out the 2008 season?

ESPN.com reporting today that the Bengals wide receiver might not play this coming season if he is not traded. The Web site cited an unidentified source.

Reached this afternoon by The Enquirer, Drew Rosenhaus, Johnson's agent, said he had not seen the report, had not talked to reporter Chris Mortensen and did not know the identity of the unnamed source.

"Chad Johnson will play football in 2008," Rosenhaus said when told of the ESPN.com report.

Will Johnson be playing for the Cincinnati Bengals?

"Our plan is for Chad Johnson to play football in 2008," Rosenhaus said. "That is how I will respond to the report."

The Bengals chose today not to respond to the ESPN.com report, said club public relations director Jack Brennan.

The Bengals would be hurt significantly on the salary cap if they were to release Johnson.

The Bengals signed Johnson to a six-year contract extension in April 2006. They tore up a deal that had four years remaining. Johnson is under contract with the Bengals through 2011. The total deal is worth $35.5 million, $16 million of which was paid in the past two years.

If they were to trade Johnson, use the Corey Dillon situation as an example, I can't see the Bengals budging for less than a second-round pick. That's the round they took Dillon. That's the round they took Johnson. Dillon had just finished the 2003 season, during which he turned 29. Dillon turned 30 in October 2004, his first season with New England. Johnson turned 30 last month.