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In a story that is certain to become one of the most important distractions of the offseason for Steelers’ fans, Cincinnati Bengals’ wide receiver Chad Johnson is displaying a great desire to be traded while his coach, Marvin Lewis, and the rest of the Bengals are attempting to keep him in the orange and black.

Losing one of the best playmakers in the NFL would obviously be a huge hit to the Bengals, who are already coming off of a disappointing 7-9 season.  If Johnson were to be traded, the return would probably be something along the lines of a high second-round pick, meaning that the Bengals would not immediately reap any benefits and would return to being the Bungles for at least another season.  Even more importantly, if Johnson were to be traded, opposing defenses would be able to focus on shutting down T.J. Houshmandzadeh (or is it Who’syourmomma?), who has quietly become one of the most productive receivers in the NFL over the past couple of seasons, catching 112 passes for 1,143 yards and 12 touchdowns last season.

Also, defenses would be able to focus even more on a weak Bengals’ offensive line and put franchise quarterback Carson Palmer under even more pressure than he was last season, when he was somehow only sacked 17 times.  Despite the intimidating presence of Palmer, the Bengals’ offense will not be successful if they trade Johnson simply because teams will cover Houshmandzadeh more closely, stack men in the box and shut down any one of the Bengals’ three running backs, attempting to force Palmer to run methodical drives instead of relying on the two big threats whom he had in the lineup in 2007.

Furthermore, losing Johnson would mean that the Bengals would lose the only player who makes them interesting to watch.  Honestly, who actually roots for Palmer, a byproduct of the USC dynasty and just another surfer kid turned quarterback?  Nobody.  And the Bengals, who are known more for their shenanigans in orange jumpsuits than for their success in football uniforms, need all of the excitement that they can get.

Unfortunately for them, Johnson believes that the time is headed downhill and that his best chance at being the prolific wide receiver he hopes to be does not lie in Cincinnati.  There is some belief that he may have had under-the-table contact with Washington in the past few days, but Marvin Lewis attempted to put the kibosh on those rumors, stating that there have been no trade talks involving Johnson.

It is worth noting that Johnson’s agent is Drew Rosenhaus, who is best known for staging workouts in Terrelle Owens’ driveway and saying “no comment” time and time again.  Rosenhaus has all of the ability in the world of turning Johnson into the major story of this offseason and it seems as if the wide receiver, who keeps talking about being traded at every chance he receives, would not mind that in the slightest.

The Steelers wouldn’t mind it that much, either, as it would turn Cincinnati from a team with a bad defense and a predictable but highpower offense into a team with a bad defense and an even more predictable and likely stoppable offense.  Yes, trading Johnson would be a terrible move for Cincinnati, but it would be cause for rejoicing throughout Steeler Nation.

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