Bengals resign Henry, try to hide embarrassment

The Bengals tucked their tail between their legs and called up Chris Henry and resigned him. Cincinnati said they may have acted too quickly by releasing him before due process, but the real reason the resigned him is that they are a better team with him and need more wide receivers due to injuries to Ocho Cinco and Housh. It could be a good move if he has matured and is serious about staying out of trouble. Even though he probably did not currently have any other offers on the table, it shows Henry does not show a grudge and put aside any ego he has and resigned with the team that just recently released him. Cincinnati played better with him than without him in ‘07, but his stats for the 8 games he played were unspectacular- 21 catches, 343 yards, and 2 TDs. He came on strong in his return with 12 grabs, 180 yards, and 1 TD in his first two games back. The downside was he put up less than that in his final six games. He does have plenty of time to get back into shape because of his four game suspension.

The team will struggle if their top players are not 100% by the start of the year (Chad Johnson, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, and Rudi Johnson), but regardless, they look like they have been passed by the Browns in the division and should finish 3rd behind Cleveland and Pittsburgh. They have drafted well the past two years but have lost good football players for various reasons this past offseason.

They lost Odell Thurman to substance abuse and David Pollack to a neck injury. They may also lose Chris Henry if he makes any mistakes this year. Thurman was a second round pick in the 2005 draft and a defensive rookie of the year candidate and could have had a long career. David Pollack was a first round pick in the ‘05 draft. Kenny Irons was their second round pick last year but was injured and has already been waived. Justin Smith took a deal for 6 years and $45 million from the 49ers in the offseason. Madieu Williams all left in the offseason also and now will start at FS for the Vikings. Antwan Odom and Ben Utecht were the only major acquisitions in the offseason.