At least one marriage in Cincinnati is destined to end poorly. Earlier on Monday, we told you about Carson Palmer’s request to be traded and Bengals owner Mike Brown’s desire to keep him on board. The same probably can’t be said for Chad Ochocinco, who appears to already be three quarters of the way out the door.
The Bengals are going to get rid of Ochocinco before the start of next season, and if you didn’t think so before you certainly should realize that now. Last week, Ocho sent out an interesting tweet that led many to believe he’s salivating at the thought of joining the New England Patriots. Naturally, Bill Belichick and his staff are not going to comment on the situation.
Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald was able to get one man’s opinion on the matter, however. On Tuesday, Rapoport asked Cincinnati head coach Marvin Lewis if he thought Belichick and the Patriots would pursue Ochocinco, and Lewis’ simple response was, “Belichick’s smarter than that.”
To be clear, Lewis is not alluding to the fact that Ochocinco is still under contract with the Bengals and the Patriots know better than to tamper with him. Rapoport came back by mentioning that Belichick took a chance on Moss, to which Lewis responded, “yeah, and what did he do this year?”
We obviously agree with Lewis that New England would never be able to put up with the headaches, but it’s interesting to see the Bengals coach speaking so candidly about the situation. He had every opportunity to clarify that Ochocinco is still a member of the Bengals, but instead he settled for a few wise cracks and chose not to talk about it. Clearly it’s only a matter of time.
