In a move that has been calculated and choreographed since Chad Johnson signed with Drew Rosenhaus 3 years ago, Chad made the rounds of Super Bowl media tables yesterday telling anyone who would listen how unhappy he is in Cincinnati. Since signing day, Rosenhaus has wanted out of Chad's contract with the Bengals. After the TO fiasco in Philly, Rosenhaus was able to quietly extend Chad's contract in Cincinnati in order to put $16million dollars in Chad's pocket for the 2006 and 2007 seasons and keep him a Bengal through 2011. However, through years 2008-2011, Chad is scheduled to make "only" $19.5million. So 2 years into the new contract, Chad and the Superagent Rosenhaus are again unhappy with his contract status. This time, Rosenhaus is armed with a season of bad press to push Chad's media hungry buttons. Chad is a puppet in Rosenhaus's game of getting Chad more money; Bad press plus lack of money equals the Bengals do not have your back. And with Chad's need to be on tv, it's an easy button to push after the media took a sudden negative turn this season.

Just how calculated is this move? Not only did Chad hit national media for the Super Bowl, but he went table to table working the radio for specific team markets. Here are a few quotes reported from profootballtalk.com:

Chad to WFNZ radio in Charlotte, "85 plus 89 equals a Super Bowl, period." Referring to Panthers receiver Steve Smith.

Chad to WSCR radio in Chicago, during which he said he'd make quarterbacks Rex Grossman or Kyle Orton into superstars. He also said, "I've worked myself to a point to where I make the quarterback look good regardless of what he does or where he puts the ball."

Johnson wrote on a note pad to Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, "Can I play in Seattle?"

According to the Boston Globe, Johnson also approached a Boston reporter and said, "I'm going to be playing for your team next year.”

This in addition to his “Bill Parcells, call me” routine from earlier in the week.

Going market to market is a smart move in drumming up support for Chad trade talk. Seattle, Chicago and Carolina are possible teams that could make a move for Chad, but New England and Miami will never be interested in his services. New England is 18-0 with the top passing game in the NFL, they do not need Chad. Bill Parcells left Dallas because he did not want TO, and he was angry that Jerry Jones undermined his authority by signing TO anyway. TO is loud, big, physical, will block at times, and can run after the catch. Chad is just as loud, not big, less physical than Olivia Newton John, never blocks, and hits the ground after every catch. If Parcells did not want TO, why would he want the same headache from a lesser player? And to give something up for Chad when TO was a free agent signing.....never going to happen.

Back to the issue, it’s sad that the Chad-Rosenhaus combo has come to this considering Chad has been well paid recently. TJ, coming off a pro bowl season, has not been one of the top paid receivers in the NFL. If the Bengals are going to redo a deal for a receiver, it’s more likely and deserving to be TJ’s deal. Drew Rosenhaus probably knows this, and that is why he has turned on full juice to get Chad a new deal with another team. Here are the total salaries paid to Chad, TJ, and Rudi Johnson, all drafted the same year, through this past season:

Not exact numbers, but taken from NFL salary database
TJ: $10,974,360
Rudi: $18,412,526
Chad: $36,494, 380

In the end, Rosenhaus does not care about any of this. He gets 3% of NFL salary paid to Chad, and he perceives that Chad is not in a favorable contract. For paying 3%, Chad gets a phone call every 2 days telling him how great he is, that he deserves more money, and then the right time and place to launch a media campaign to get it. Now that I think about it, why don’t I pay anybody 3% of my salary to tell me how great I am? I only signed up for the 3% United Way contribution, and they don’t call me at all. All the United Way does is send me a bill each year asking for more money and telling me how my previous money helped them build the “Center for Kids Who Ain’t Readin Good.” Moriarty is a complimentary type of guy, maybe I should start sending him 3% a month to call me up and let me know that I am special and deserve more in life. Moriarty, get ready to receive monthly checks for $13.42.

Adding to the bad news is the Bengals front office. Mike Brown is very adept at handling personnel issues and extremely media savvy, right? This shouldn’t turn into a circus. Judging from past experience, the best Bengals fans can hope is that Rosenhaus puts on so much pressure that Mike Brown is forced to make a move before this builds to a full scale train wreck. The most likely scenario though is that this is a constant offseason story and a total distraction once camp opens. Mike Brown created another distraction this week by signing Carson Palmer’s brother. It will not go over too well when the team has to cut the brother of its franchise QB, Carson might be a little distracted by that. And once TJ begins to ask for a new contract, LOOKOUT!!!