Odell Thurman is back.  Can he stay back?  Can he have the impact on the Bengal's defense that Bengals fans are hoping for? 

Odell Thurman has had a long road to get back to the NFL.  After sitting out the last two seasons, he has finally been reinstated today by the NFL.  That means that Thurman will be allowed to play this season for the Cincinnati Bengals just as long as he can keep his personal affairs in line.  Thurman was originally suspended for the '06 season after violating the league's substance abuse policy. He then proceeded to violate his court ordered probation last year.  As a result of his additional off field offense, the NFL tacked another year’s suspension onto his previous suspension.

Thurman proved to be an extremely effective Linebacker for the Bengals in his rookie season.  Odell Thurman as a rookie played in all 16 games for the Bengals.  He racked up 69 solo tackles and 105 total tackles.  He had 5 interceptions including one that he returned for a touchdown.  He gave the Bnegals the swagger they had been missing.

The big question for Bengals fans regarding Odell Thurman is whether he will be able to regain his rookie year performance and can he stay out of trouble off the field.  Odell will be competing for a starting role in the Bengals defense.  Only time will tell how much of an impact this might have on the Bengals defense.  If Thurman can regain his edge, he could have a major impact for the Bengals. 

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Bengals linebacker Odell Thurman, after what has amounted to a two-year NFL suspension, learned this afternoon that he has been reinstated by the league, the Bengals announced this afternoon.

“Odell has met the NFL’s conditions for reinstatement and has been added to our offseason roster,” Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said in a statement released by the club. “It is now up to Odell to continue to meet all NFL guidelines, and to maintain a standard of personal responsibility that will allow him the chance to compete for a spot on our team.”

Thurman missed the past two seasons because of repeated violations of the NFL substance abuse policy.  His first application for reinstatement was denied in July, and he was told he could reapply after the 2007 regular season.  In January, Thurman was granted permission to begin working out with the team at Paul Brown Stadium.

Thurman was the Bengals second-round draft pick in 2005 from Georgia. He played in every game, including the playoff loss, and led the team with 148 tackles during the regular season. He also led the team with four forced fumbles, and his five interceptions tied for the most for an NFL rookie that season.

When the NFL released its 2008 schedule on April 15, I immediately had two thoughts and it just happened that neither of them were Chad Johnson related (Which is rare, because I have two thoughts about Chad Johnson almost three times a day). First, how in the name of Paul Tagliabue did Cleveland get five prime-time games? I would rather clean a baby’s soiled diaper with my tongue then watch the Browns play football.

My second thought was more of an informational tidbit then a thought; simply put, every football fan alive needs to know that the Patriots have the easiest first five weeks in the history of the NFL, how easy you ask? Imagine if Mike Tyson in his prime had five consecutive matches against Papa Smurf, Steve Urkel, Alf, Screech and a wiener dog. I mean I can only imagine how the conversation at NFL headquarters went when New England’s schedule was being put together:

Suit 1: Wow, the Patriots were really bad last year and they had it pretty rough, maybe we should put all of their easy games at the beginning of the season.

On Wednesday, the shrapnel from Chad Johnson's offseason interviews that previously had hit the Cincinnati Bengals organization, its head coach, Marvin Lewis, and almost every player — save fellow receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh and quarterback Carson Palmer — struck Palmer.

Palmer drew Johnson's ire after saying Johnson had told him he would attend the mandatory minicamp in mid-June. Johnson saw Palmer's comments on the Web. Then Johnson called ESPN.com reporter John Clayton to dispute what Palmer had said. Johnson has declined to speak to Cincinnati-based reporters since October.

"I want to make this very clear,'' Johnson told Clayton. "I don't know where he got that. I made no assertion to Carson that I would do that. Nothing has changed from what I've been saying for three months that I don't want to play for the Bengals. ... I want to be traded before the draft, and if that doesn't happen, I want to be traded as soon as possible. I don't intend on reporting to anything."

Source: Cincinnati Enquirer and Yahoo Sports

yahoo.com

Besides the fact Chad Johnson is a vital part of what the Cincinnati Bengals do offensively, the club can simply not afford to trade the wide receiver or terminate his contract.

Trading or terminating Johnson's contract would cost the Bengals some $8.03 million in salary cap space this year. If Johnson is not with the Bengals in 2008, the club would have $8.03 million in dead money on the salary cap of $116 million because of the acceleration of bonus money already paid to Johnson. The Bengals cannot get that money back from Johnson and must account for it on the cap.

Johnson: 'I don't want to play for the Bengals'

Cincinnati has had to endure a plethora of issues over the last two years. But this may be the Bengals' biggest problem yet.

Chad Johnson: Career statsYear

           Team    G    REC    YDS    AVG    TD

2001 CIN    12    28    329    11.8    1
2002 CIN    16    69    1166  16.9    5
2003 CIN    16    90    1355  15.1    10
2004 CIN    16    95    1274  13.4    9
2005 CIN    16    97    1432  14.8    9
2006 CIN    16    87    1369  15.7    7
2007 CIN    16    93    1440  15.5    8

Totals        108   559  8365  15.0   49