NFL News - Its Official, Larry Johnson to the Bengals

For many years, the Bengals were like a correctional facility housing the malcontents, the felons and the morons. Yet this year, something has clicked and guys like Chad Ochocinco and Cedric Benson are producing big wins. A cleaner team image, and success, haven’t deterred the Bengals from going after recent trouble makers either. On Tuesday night, it was announced that Larry Johnson has signed with the Bengals after Cedric Benson injured his hip.

Johnson has been one of the most prolific rushers that the NFL has ever seen, but in recent years he’s been slowed by injuries, a stuttering offensive line and an inconsistencies in the passing game. This season, Johnson has just 377-yards on 132 attempts and has been held out of the endzone too. After being released for his anti-gay slurs during an attack on his coaches in Kansas, the team was essentially forced to waive Johnson.

LJ’s cleared waivers and signed with the Bengals while hanging out in limbo for about a week. He’ll collect $4 million from Kansas this season and will now collect $255,290 for the remainder of the season from Cincinnati.

Marvin Lewis has vehemently asserted that the starting job belongs to Benson, so he views Larry Johnson as an insurance policy of sorts. I’m still not sure how effective he can be.

He’s three-seasons removed from his career-high 1,789 rushing yards season where he also tallied 19 touchdowns in 2006. He’s certainly lost a ton of his burst and power that made him unmistakable on highlight reels.

The offensive line in Cincinnati is far superior to the crumbling wall of fatties in Kansas City, but whether Johnson can take advantage of the gaps and touches given to him remains to be seen. Since 2007, he’s totaled only 8-touchdowns.

Luckily for the Bengals, they have a soft schedule for the next three-weeks before getting back-to-back roadies against Minnesota (Week 14) and San Diego (Week 15). With Oakland, Cleveland and Detroit on the docket, they can rest easy and give Benson the time he needs to heal from a strained abductor muscle.

Johnson is certainly not the rusher that Benson has been but he can serve the purpose of picking up yards on the ground and giving Carson Palmer the temporary weapon he needs to keep this offense balanced.

Not a great move by the Bengals, but a good move to shore up their depth chart and weather the injury to Benson. I don’t really care what Johnson said about homosexuals, though I can totally understand the fury surrounding his ill-fated comments.

As far as giving the Bengals the replacement they need in the meantime while Benson heals, Johnson was the best option out there. Considering the PR nightmare surrounding Johnson, this move means the Bengals are serious about making some big noise this season.