Bengals franchise Rudi Johnson...

ESPN is reporting that the Bengals have franchised Rudi Johnson. I guess we won't see him play in the '05 season.

The thing is he has already said he would sit out the entire season if he was franchised. I can't figure out what is going on in Cinci.

I thought he was happy in Cinci though? Maybe not. Its not the worst thing in the world, they still have Chris Perry to play around with.........

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He must have caught the Corey Dillon bug.

What exactly does the term franchise mean?

There is NO way that Rudi deserves top 5 money. He is a good player but he does not in any way deserve that much money. BTW I hate players that say they will refuse to play for any reason, they need to be reminded that they are playing a game and being payed millions dollars to do so.

AndreJ said:

What exactly does the term franchise mean?

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That means the player will recieve a one year contract and he will be paid the average salary of the top 5 players at his position. I am not totally sure of the highest paid RBs but I am guessing he will getting the same money of Tomlison and players of that caliber.

Rosusu said:

There is NO way that Rudi deserves top 5 money. He is a good player but he does not in any way deserve that much money. BTW I hate players that say they will refuse to play for any reason, they need to be reminded that they are playing a game and being payed millions dollars to do so.

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See I just don't agree with this. Ok, I agree that Johnson isn't top 5 money. That part I get. Where I disagree with you is the refusing to play thing. If he's under contract (I have to confess I don't know if Johnson is or isn't) then he should honor his contract. No question about that in my mind. Sure I know the teams will cut you in a heartbeat if they want to and they never honor a contract but if I were a player and signed a contract I'd honor it.

If he's not under contract it's his business if he doesn't want to play. If he doesn't want to play for the Bengals then that's his decision. The cost of making that decision is the millions of dollars you speak of. If a guy is willing to walk away from NFL money because he doesn't want to work for them where they want him to work (Cincy in this case) then how is that different from you or I saying we're not going to go to work for a company that's willing to pay us big bucks but we've got to go work in some god forsaken place where we don't want to live?

It's his call. If he doesn't want to play for the Bengals and is willing to face the loss of a huge paycheck to get out of there then I've got no problem with that.

Rosusu said:

I am not totally sure of the highest paid RBs but I am guessing he will getting the same money of Tomlison and players of that caliber.

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Rudi will be paid like LT, Holmes and Portis. The Bengals will forever be losers...

texan279 said:

The thing is he has already said he would sit out the entire season if he was franchised. I can't figure out what is going on in Cinci.

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I caught a radio interview on ESPN earlier this evening with Rudi. He seemed to understand that being franchised is part of the business and that he could play for $6 million this year. Rudi was saying all the right things, which makes me believe that he sees a long term deal in his future.

What I was saying was more into the fact that a player should not refuse to play in a certain place. I do completely understand all of your points but I just see it as them getting to play a game they love. Your point about not wanting to live there is a good one. I think for 6 million dollars of so I could stand cicny for one more year, dont you?

Rosusu said:

What I was saying was more into the fact that a player should not refuse to play in a certain place. I do completely understand all of your points but I just see it as them getting to play a game they love. Your point about not wanting to live there is a good one. I think for 6 million dollars of so I could stand cicny for one more year, dont you?

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Ok, I see your point for the most part. Yes, it's awful hard to imagine not being able to put up with Cincinnati for a year if it means I get 6 million dollars. I think that with Cincinnati though it's a perception that their "stars" have about the prospects of ever being able to play for a winner. I might truly love football and love playing football but eventually I'm going to want to play for a team that I think has a chance to win and compete for a championship. I can think of nothing that would kill my love of the game more (if I were a player) than to be certain year end and year out that my team was going nowhere.

The Bengals have to fight this perception and probably will have to prove to their star players that the long losing nightmare is coming to an end. I think the losing was what made Dillon the problem child that he'd become and I think it's behind Rudi Johnson's desire to get out of Cincinnati.

If they keep him for another year at the high salary and then win 9-10 games next year then they probably have a shot at signing him to a long term contract and he will probably get back on the wagon with the team. If they sign him to that big one year deal and then go on another 6-10 run then I think he's going to want out and it won't be long before other players start thinking the same thing.

The NFL is I think the best of the professional leagues at making sure that every team has the means to succeed. Not everyone is going to win all the time but nobody can say that the deck is stacked against them. It all comes down to how smart your organization is and how hard they work at putting together a winner. The Bengals have been bad so long that they've become the exception to the rule. They're the closest thing that the NFL has to a team without hope. I can't blame anyone who wants to win a ring for not wanting to do it there.

completely agree

Its actually a smart move by the Bengals. If anyone signs him, they get TWO first round draft picks. and if he gets hurt this year, they can plug in Perry. So its a win win.

Another idea, would be for them to use the transition tag on him, and at least get a chance to match their offer, or get some draft picks.

But I think the bengals did the right thing.