ESPN‘s Adam Schefter thinks Chad Ochocinco could end up being a Chicago Bear:
“I also wouldn’t completely dismiss the possibility of Chad Ochocinco landing [in Chicago], since Cincinnati is not expected to pay him $6.25 million this season. I will say that I believe Chicago’s wide receivers are a bit better than most people think. The Bears can win, and have won, with the receivers they have. But to get another big receiving threat, particularly if it were to weaken a division opponent such as Minnesota — and the Vikings did the same thing to the Bears when they signed away Bernard Berrian — would help Cutler and Chicago. It’s likely the Bears will make a play on one of those big receivers.”
I have two words for Adam: “No.” “Way.” If the Bengals thought the Ocho had anything left, they’d find a way to keep him.
But let’s set that aside by assuming he’s just not worth the $6.25 million that they’d currently have to pay. There’s just no way the Bears are going to sign a guy that brings that kind of drama to the football team – and rightly so. That kind of disruption calls for an equal return on the field and we’re not exactly talking about Randy Moss just out of college. We’re talking about a guy who hasn’t managed to do anything on the field worth noting for at least two seasons.
The Bears really do like their receivers. Or at least they like them better than to waste a roster spot on an older guy like Ochocinco. They tried that before with Marty Booker in 2008 and it stunted the growth of the younger guys on the roster. They’re unlikly to make that mistake again.