Fantasy Football

Can someone explain to me why Matt Cassel is always brought up in conversation with Jay Cutler and vice versa? Are the two now inextricably linked forever because both names are being thrown around during the same free agency period. Which one would you rather have? Who had the better season? Which are you better suited to win with? Does Jay Cutler’s talent make him better than Cassel in spite of his petulance?

Honestly, I couldn’t give a fuck less. In case you haven’t noticed, I really don’t like to talk about people talking. This isn’t a sewing circle. Even if its not much better than a sewing circle, it’s a fantasy football blog that relies on a degree of certitude for material. Speculating on whether or not…I don’t know…Antwane Randle-El is going to leave the Redskins, and if he does, what the means for the team he could end up playing for and his potential former team. It just has too many question marks to really concern myself with it, not to mention 90% of these players discussed are pretty inconsequential. Most of them could be replaced for a utility guy and the team wouldn’t notice the difference.

So lets talk about the one deal that has gone across the wire that has actually transpired, and that is TJ Houshmandzadeh going back home to the Pacific. Living in Ohio, the Bengals faithful (and there are still entirely too many of them) are outraged, and that outrage has morphed into outright mocking that he won’t succeed because he’s going to play for a team that’s clearly entering a downward trend. This is amazingly flawed logic for a number of reasons.

Now he can destroy the Niners twice a year.

1) The team can’t improve it’s standing unless they improve the caliber of player they are currently sporting. TJ Houshmandzadeh isn’t getting a contract for $45 million for his fucking ponytail, he’s actually proven to be a top ten receiver in the NFL. By acquiring him, in theory, the Seahawks get better, thus the team improves.

2) Even if they don’t improve, TJ can rest assured that the front office is actually concerned with how they perform on the field. So if the team looks like shit in 2009 and Matt Hasselbeck doesn’t rebound from his injury plagued 2008 campaign, he can rest assured that the front office is going to at least attempt to improve the on-field play, which is more than you can say for anyone representing the Bengals.

3) Injuries precluded any potential success in 2008 for the ‘Hawks, a new coach and different make up in a weak conference can make for a playoff season. Now, I’m not a visionary by any means. But if there is anything that is certain about the 2009 NFL season, its that the Bengals will not make the playoffs nor will they try to the following year.

4) Seattle ponied up $45 million for five years, fourteen of which is guaranteed. That is more than enough reason to get out of the current armpit of the NFL.

Also, Carson Palmer may go ballistic on his coach and/or teammates, and he will eventually set Mike Brown on fire if he does. I don’t much care for Palmer, he seems like a great teammate when they’re winning and an awful one when they are losing. I also think he’s overrated (or at least he has been since his knee injury in 2006), so while he is something of an asset, they might as well go the full mile, trade him while he still has decent market value and start rebuilding the team prematurely. Because while Bengals fans may mock Housh’s new quarterback, theirs is only a smidgen better on anyone’s rankings.

The Carson Palmer era with the high powered offense is obviously over (if it wasn’t evident the last two seasons it should be with this trade). Why not seek out a slew of young players (even trade down for more picks if possible) and start fresh? Right now the only team with less hope than the Bengals is the Lions, and that’s just because the Lions are coming off an 0-16 season. If they played on a neutral field this Sunday I would probably pick Detroit to win. I know they’re getting Palmer back, but that doesn’t mean he’ll stay under center. Not to mention they just lost their best offensive weapon which kills his value. Last year Housh was the one acceptable Cincinnati Bengal to have in your starting roster in a non-bye week, this year I really don’t feel like they have any. What, are you going to draft Cedric Benson?

I will give Bengals fans this, Housh’s fantasy stock dropped by going to Seattle. That team is going to look to run the ball more, they should have a healthy Bobby Engram and Deon Branch, and there isn’t a Chad Johnson deep threat between those two like he had in Cincy. And I will concede that Hasselbeck is getting older, I wouldn’t want my first receiver drafted to be relying on him at QB.

In short, of the three parties involved, only the Seattle offense is going to improve from a fantasy perspective. Cincy and Housh himself should see a significant depreciation in productivity. Meaning this is signing with substantive and tangible fantasy implications! Yes, that is the first non-ironic exclamation point we’ve ever used here. And yes, we’re excited to see what impact it will have on both teams. Despite our seemingly confident assumptions of how this will all pan out, the NFL will always be under a roll of the dice under the hard cap.

Probably it for today, back with more this week.