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Ochocinco says Andre Smith has signed
Posted by Mike Florio on August 29, 2009 11:12 PM ET
Bengals receiver Chad Ochocinco, calling himself "the new source," claims on his Twitter page that tackle Andre Smith, the sixth overall pick in the 2009 draft, finally has signed a contract.

Here's the full text of Chad's tweet. "Attention: 1st rd. Pick Andre Smith has signed, the new source = Ocho Cinco, not ESPN, thank you, stay tuned for more info."

Trey Wingo of ESPN responded to Ochocinco's scoop by saying "way to be a jerk about it." (Said Chad in response, "I didn't complain when you were ripping me on TV, I didn't call you a jerk, I took and just child pleased the situation.")

Meanwhile, Smith's agent, Alvin Keels, has since posted a new tweet unrelated to Smith's status.

So, like Chad said, stay tuned.

UPDATE: A league source says that, at a minimum, a deal for Smith is close, and that "it won't be a good one" for the player. The sense is that, if/when a deal gets done, the player will be caving to the team, since the player needs the cash.

SECOND UPDATE: There's no deal yet.

This is a situation where the Bengals have all the leverage...he is going to sign for what they want him to. If he refuses to sign he sits out the year and reenters the draft. With his weight problems, and a year off of football there is no way he'd even be a top ten pick...so he would be forfiting a year of salary and moving down in the draft to the point that he would be making less than if he would have signed this year. The agent does not want to look bad...but Andre really just needs to sign and get it over with.

Mike Brown should realize that now he'll be paying a guy to ride the bench instead of starting the season as 1st team RT. There's no way he gets his money's worth this season, barring injury and/or shocking ability of Smith out of the gate.

We better hope the Bengals have a decent season so they get a mid or late round draft pick. It looks Andre Smith is going to get a deal significantly less than the market value of the #6 pick. Thus, it was a successful Super Bowl moment for Mike Brown and he will do it again next year.

And the Bengals continue to illustrate why they're the worst run organization aside from Enron.

Just another reason that the NFL has to control and lower rookie salaries.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reports Smith is on a plane to Cincinnati. If everything is signed, sealed and delivered by 3 p.m., Smith could be on the practice field later today.

Saw that on Lance's Blog. Turns out OchoCinco is the new source, they probably wish he waited a day though. Saw this on his twitter page:



Now we just have to wait to see how bad Smith got beat at the negotiation table. It's bound to be unfair for him, right? Looking at it from the other side, maybe after the poor offensive line play the Bengals gave in and offered Smith a fair deal? Perhaps Marvin marched up to Mike Brown's office and told him to sign Smith now? Nah, he probably sent Jim Lippincott to do it.

it sounds like according to Hobson it may have been mutual,

With all signs pointing to No. 1 pick Andre Smith being at Sunday afternoon's practice, the Bengals have another decision to make with their rookie right tackle. If they don't play him in a game, he doesn't count on the roster for two weeks. If he plays Thursday in the preseason finale or the regular-season opener Sept. 13, they immediately lose that two-week roster exemption.

they need to see if Re-Run can make it thru practice for Thursdays game or exempt him for a few games, which means he's out till week 3

Update: Smith in fold

GEOFF HOBSON

Posted Aug 30, 2009

Updated: 2:55 p.m.

The Bengals have signed first-round pick Andre Smith in a deal that could be as much as $42 million and the Alabama right tackle is expected to be on the field in Sunday's 3 p.m. practice at Paul Brown Stadium.

Smith, the sixth pick in the draft, is the next-to-last draft choice to sign in the NFL, ending a 30-day standoff that began at the Bengals' first practice on July 31 at Georgetown College. The club didn't release terms.

An industry source said that Alvin Keels, Smith's agent, came back to Cincinnati on Saturday a week after his initial visit and finalized the deal with Bengals negotiators Katie and Troy Blackburn. It's believed to be a complex contract hinged on play time and options that gives Smith, the sixth pick, more money than Jacksonville tackle Eugene Monroe at No. 8 over five years at about $30 million.

The holdout grew out of the Raiders deal at No. 7. The Bengals felt that was out of whack with the rest of the first-round signings while Keels wanted the club to be true to the slotting system and wanted more than that seventh pick. The Bengals wanted something closer to Monroe and the deal for last year's sixth pick.

Smith started at right tackle during all of the spring workouts, a spot that has been taken by second-year player Anthony Collins. Collins has looked good protecting the passer and is trying to make his run play just as effective. Off a season he was named the nation's best lineman, the 6-4, 335-pound Smith is known as a superior run blocker that is trying to make his protection skills just as effective.

What is unclear is how this affects the Bengals final roster. Smith needs time to get acclimated and with just one preseason game and 15 days left before Opening Day, the Bengals may have to use a two-week roster exemption on Smith.

That means he can practice but not play in a game, including Thursday night's preseason finale against the Colts and the Sept. 13 opener against Denver, both at Paul Brown Stadium. If he does play in a game, the Bengals immediately lose the exemption, so it would be hard to see activating him before the second game of the season Sept. 20 in Green Bay.

Also involved in the talks was one of Keels' partners, Cincinnati-based agent Jim Gould. Gould, an Indian Hill neighbor of the Blackburns (he once was a soccer coach for one of their daughters), is a veteran of doing contracts with the team.

Gould negotiated a pre-training camp deal for No. 1 pick Peter Warrick in 2000 and in 1998 he did the contract that helped broker the trade that sent franchise player Dan Wilkinson to the Redskins for the first-round and third-round draft picks that turned out to be linebacker Brian Simmons and guard Mike Goff.

http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/up...77b1930aca

I don't want to hear Mike Brown whine if Andre Smith holds out in a few years.

Why would he care? He's got him for 4-6 years. Either way, you'll still be tuning in every week. Inertia is one hell of a money maker.