The Bengals signing of Terrell Owens is exactly why the Bengals are the bumbling Bengals. As on teams past, it won’t take Owens long before he proclaims to the world that the Bengals are below his talent level. Owens won’t improve the Bengals offense. He’ll shred it up with his ego and stomp on it with his tantrums. What were the Bengals thinking?

Antonio Bryant, the Bengals big-time free agent acquisition is obviously still troubled by his surgically repaired knee. Why else would you go out and sign a “big name” receiver other than to make your fans forget about their $28 million blunder?

Even without Bryant, the Bengals would have been better off without signing “cry-baby” Owens. Owens is a contagious cancer in any locker room. He’s not a team player. He’s a ‘me’ player but I guess his stints in Dallas, Philadelphia and Buffalo are long forgotten by Bengals brass. If anything, Owens retards the development of the Bengals promising young receivers, Andre Caldwell, Jerome Simpson and rookies Jordan Shipley and tight end Jermaine Gresham. What makes the Owens signing more mind boggling is that all of these young pass catchers earned rave reviews during off season practices. Hmmm, did they suddenly all play like crap in OTAs?????

I wonder what Chad Ochocinco really thinks about this signing? Can one team really support two egotistical prima donnas hungry for public attention? Pairing Ochocinco and Owens will lead to one of two things. The two clowns will either engage each other in sideline brawls and disparaging hissy fits or they’ll become partners in crime and together embarrass the Bengals and the NFL with their immature antics. Either way, their distractions will derail the Bengals hope to be competitive in 2010.

So how does the Owens signing affect the fantasy values of the Bengals top players? Well, we can pretty much stick a fork in Antonio Bryant because he is officially toast. The fantasy values of Ochocinco and Owens will likely cancel each other out as low second to third tier receivers. Honestly, the Bengals now have one of the oldest starting receiver tandems in the league (32 and 37 respectively) and to expect anything other than inconsistency would be foolish. I really don’t see much change in Carson Palmer’s value. In the last couple of years the Bengals have resorted to a run-heavy offense because of Palmer’s injury woes and ineffectiveness. The only player in this group to stand an increase in value is running back Cedric Benson…if he can avoid suspension. The Bengals were already preparing to make Benson the focal point of their offense. With the addition of Owens, opposing defenses will think that they will need to direct more attention on the Bengals’ receivers allowing Benson more room to run. As far as the young receivers waiting in the wings? Unless the two geriatrics suffer an injury they are better off left undrafted in redraft leagues.

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Tags: andre caldwell, antonio bryant, carson palmer, cedric benson, chad ochocinco, cincinnati bengals, fantasy nuthouse, FSG Links, jerome simpson, NFL Draft, rankings, terrell owens