Lewis won't deal Johnson
Coach says Bengals never talked about trading their star receiver
BY MARK CURNUTTE
Chad Johnson will remain with the Bengals.
In his strongest statements to date about the disgruntled wide receiver, Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said Wednesday that the team will not trade Johnson and never has discussed it.
"No. 1, the guy has a contract through 2011, OK," Lewis said in an interview with The Enquirer and the team Web site. "No one within the Bengals organization has ever spoken of or ever uttered anything about trading Chad Johnson, nor will he be traded.
"There is no such thing as behind-the-door dealings in the NFL. That does not occur because the team in question (the Bengals) is not willing to trade their player, nor have they thought about trading their player or discussed trading their player, nor will they discuss trading their player. So I think that's pretty clear. Things can move on.
"Our player, we know is very passionate about the game. He continues to play at a very, very high level. He has been very, very productive. He has been well-compensated."
Johnson's 6,870 receiving yards in the past five years are the most in the NFL. He played in his fifth consecutive Pro Bowl on Sunday, though he was the first alternate at wide receiver for the AFC team and went because New England's Randy Moss withdrew.
Johnson was the fourth-highest paid wide receiver in the NFL last season with total compensation of $7,165,379 million, according to newly released NFL Players Association documents.
FULL STORY
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.d...40389/1066/SPT
Bengals Lewis won't deal Johnson
Bengals Lewis won't deal Johnson
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