Antonio Bryant Proves to Be Costly Error for Another NFL Team

The list of NFL teams in need of receivers seems to grow by the day. St. Louis suddenly has to replace Donnie Avery, who was placed on injured reserve after hurting his knee Thursday night. San Diego might still be forced to find someone to take Vincent Jackson's spot, if he's traded or continues his holdout. The Jets could use some depth while Santonio Holmes serves his four-game suspension, Seattle wants another veteran, the Redskins and Bears have question marks -- the list goes on and on.

But here's a little tip for all of those teams: Don't bother calling Antonio Bryant. It's not worth it. Just ask Cincinnati.

The Bengals released Bryant on Sunday, a little less than six months after handing out an inexplicable four-year, $28 million contract to the 29-year-old receiver -- including about $7 million in guaranteed money, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. Bryant will try to recoup even more of that original contract, too.

"Our opposition is you can't cut a guy if he's hurt. We know what the rules are. We expect to be paid his salary for the year," Bryant's agent, Lamont Smith, told the Enquirer. "He understands what his rights are. We've talked about it over the last three weeks and he understands it's a business."

Smith told the Enquirer that the Bengals didn't approach him to discuss an injury settlement and that a grievance would be filed to get Bryant's $1.55 million in base salary for 2010.

---

---

What compelled Cincinnati to open its checkbook like that for Bryant in the first place, we'll never know.

Just a quick recap: Bryant forced his way out of Dallas, which drafted him, after a spat with then-head coach Bill Parcells. After a two-year stop in Cleveland, he signed with San Francisco prior to the 2006 season -- then made it through just one year of a four-year, $15 million contract (which included a $5 million signing bonus), partially because of an arrest for reckless and drunken driving. Bryant then sat out all of 2007 after failing an NFL-issued drug test.

He resurfaced with Tampa Bay in 2008, delivered a career year (83 catches for 1,248 yards), and the Buccaneers promptly slapped the franchise tag on him for 2009, a $9.8 million commitment. Their reward? A less-motivated, banged-up Bryant had offseason surgery on his left knee, reaggravated the injury during the season, and missed substantial time while racking up just 39 catches to match his career low.

And yet, somehow, Cincinnati felt compelled to take a shot on him. Needless to say, it was a huge mistake. Bryant never played a single down for the Bengals. He's been sidelined throughout training camp by lingering issues in that same left knee -- how he passed a physical before signing with Cincinnati is a total mystery -- and couldn't suit up for any of the team's first three preseason games. The Bengals had to choose between waiting out Bryant's injury, placing him on injured reserve -- thus ending his season -- or releasing him.

"I've been on the field doing a couple things here and there. It's just a matter of timing," Bryant told reporters Thursday before Cincinnati's preseason game. "We're getting there, we're getting close."

Not close enough, apparently. Bryant became pretty expendable in his absence, what with the Bengals signing Terrell Owens. Despite Owens' teammate, Chad Ochocinco, standing up for Bryant on Twitter -- "Totally upset that the Bengals released my homeboy Antonio Bryant, we were a 3 headed monster with him (Ochocinco, Owens and Bryant). I'm really saddened by this news." -- Bryant's release doesn't hurt Cincinnati's chances in 2010.

More From NFL FanHouse

---

• Lions Running Toward Daylight
• Sanchez Has to Handle Heat
• Chargers' Stalemate Drags On
• Can Vikings Put Faith in Favre? It's hard to say if Bryant's even broken up about it. During that pregame interview Thursday, when asked about his fate with the Bengals, he replied, "That's not a decision for me to make. I know what I'm capable of doing. Whatever their decision is, that's the one that's made upstairs. That's not the one for me to make. My thing is to play football, whenever I'm able to do that I'll play to the best of my ability."

Not a whole lot of urgency in that answer. And why would there be? No matter what Bryant's done in his NFL career, on and off the field, some NFL team has paid him big money. At least in the past, they could justify that by pointing to Bryant's obvious ability and a couple of breakout seasons -- in addition to that 2008 explosion with the Bucs, Bryant also topped 1,000 yards in 2005 with the Browns.

You can't make that argument anymore, though. Bryant's got eight NFL seasons under his belt, and they're clearly starting to take their toll. For a player that relies on speed and athleticism to excel, having multiple injuries on the same knee over a span of two years does not bode well. Quite simply, Bryant's not the same player that he was in Dallas or Cleveland or even Tampa Bay, circa 2008. And as much as everyone criticizes Ochocinco and now T.O. in Cincinnati, Bryant carries arguably as negative a reputation as either of them.

Yet, he's made his way through five different NFL cities, and some general manager desperate for receiver help will probably make it six soon.

Just don't say we didn't warn you.

---

FanHouse national columnist Thomas George reports from Bengals camp on how the team hopes to take a step forward with new additions on board. Check out the video below.