In Friday’s Quick-Hits, I discuss the one big difference between the Redskins and Patriots (besides you know, that whole winning thing), Chris Johnson’s second holdout in as many years, the narrowing race to sign Nnamdi Asomugha, and the reuniting of Roy Williams and Mike Martz. Plus Vince Young, the Bucs and more.

- In the wake of the Patriots acquiring Chad Ochocinco from the Bengals, MMA Blitz writer and fellow TSR contributor Drew Ellis texted me this last night: “Is it just me or are the Patriots turning into the Redskins?” I get his point. The Patriots have never been worried about “name” talent; Bill Belichick just plugs players into his schemes and they win. But besides the obvious differences (like winning), the main reason the Patriots and Redskins are different is because Belichick never pays full price for anything. What did he give up to acquire Ochocinco and Albert Haynesworth the last two days? Two fifth round picks and a sixth-rounder? That’s nothing. That’s three special teamers or camp bodies in exchange for a receiver who absolutely loves Belichick and one of the best interior defensive linemen in the game when he’s motivated. On the flip side, the Redskins have paid out the ass for veteran talent and haven’t gotten anything to show for it. As I texted Drew, Belichick doesn’t take a dump in the morning without having a game plan. These moves will pan out – I guarantee it.

- I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The Titans need to pony up and pay Chris Johnson, who will not report to camp on Friday says beat writer Jim Wyatt. Johnson has been one of the most productive backs in the NFL the past few seasons and he’s only 25. That means he has four or five more productive seasons left in him, so why Tennessee would dick around now is beyond me. They’re going to need this kid when Jake Locker is ready to take over the offense and is looking around for help. And seeing as how Kenny Britt probably won’t be around in another year or two, giving CJ a five-year deal makes a lot of sense.

- The race to sign Nnamdi Asomugha is apparently down to two teams according to NFL Network’s Michael Lombardi. Apparently some players in Dallas (with Tony Romo being one of them) are willing to restructure their deals in order to land the top corner on the market, while the Jets have made some moves in the past 24 hours to help clear cap space. (They released Mark Brunell and waived CB Will Billingsley and G Marlon Davis.) If it’s down to the Cowboys and Jets, I think New York walks away the winner. But I’m also the guy who predicted that he would land with the Bucs so…Dallas it is.

- The Bears have reunited Roy Williams with his former coordinator Mike Martz after signing the receiver to a two-year deal. It’s a nice fit given how productive Williams was under Martz in Detroit. It’s funny though, I have often wondered whether or not Williams could get any slower and the Bears have provided the answer. His speed should transfer real nice onto that dirt patch Chicago calls a field.

- Vince Young did the right thing signing a one-year deal with the Eagles. There was no market for him as a starter, so he might as well go to a place where the coaching staff is excellent and he can learn from a guy in Michael Vick (who obviously had to do some growing up himself). Besides, Vick always gets hurt once or twice a year so maybe if V.Y. turns in a solid preseason and fills in admirably for Vick, there will be a market for him next offseason.

- Let me get this straight: the Bucs want nothing to do with Nnamdi Asomugha but they hand free agent punter Michael Koenen $19.5 million, with $6.5 million guaranteed? Koenen is one of the best in the league but it’s a little befuddling why Tampa would pony up that much for a punter instead of at least kicking the tires on Asomugha (especially given Aqib Talib’s legal issues). My God, man.

- For the past two years I have wondered why the Saints were so willing to push Reggie Bush out the door. He said he was willing to take a paycut to stay in NOLA, so why not keep the versatile playmaker around as a role player? But the deal they just made for Darren Sproles was solid. The Saints have averaged more yards and points with Bush out of the lineup than with him in it, and they essentially just filled his role with a cheaper option in Sproles. Oh, and New Orleans also received a late-round pick and a 22-year-old special teams ace in Jonathon Amaya for Bush when they sent him to Miami. Nice work this offseason, Mickey Loomis.

- Here’s my off-the-cuff prediction of the day: Osi Umenyiora winds up in Atlanta after the Giants cut him.

After giving Major League Soccer a try earlier this year, Chad Ochocinco will continue on his quest for attention (I’m kidding! I’m kidding!…Relax…) when he gives professional bull riding a try.

Ochocinco has accepted a challenge from Professional Bull Riders chief operating officer Sean Gleason to ride a bull at the LucasOil Invitational this weekend in Duluth. The Ocho will earn $10,000 if he rides a bull and if he can stay aboard for the required eight seconds, the PBR will give him a new Ford F-150 and allow him to name the bull.

USA Today has the rest of the details.

Sean Gleason, chief operating officer of the PBR, responded with this tweet to Ochocinco: “that’s the deal. Show up and get on the bull u get 10K, ride him for 8 secs and its a brand new F150 from @teampbr @fordtrucks.”

Ochocinco then posted: “if I stay on for 8 seconds FORD will give me an F-150? I challenge your best bull and i’ll give the truck to 1 of my followers.”

“The Ford F-150 we’re offering will be there, we hope (Ochocinco) is too,” Gleason said. “He’s a gifted athlete, but bull riding is a much different sport and climbing on the back of a bull in the chutes takes a little more than Twitter confidence, let alone calling for the gate (to open).

“We admire Ochocinco’s interest in the sport. If he actually gets on and nods his head (to open the gate), he’ll find out that two-a-days in the summer heat are nothing compared to the eight seconds faced by PBR bull riders week in and week out.”

So this is what it’s come down to huh, NFL? You’ve got me blogging about an attention-seeking athlete (I’m kidding! I’m kidding!..Relax…) and his bull riding adventures. You and your lockout make…me…sick.

Chad Ochocinco has taken to his Twitter page to express his feelings about the Bengals and head coach Marvin Lewis this week.

On Tuesday, the Ocho tweeted: “Y’all ever lost somebody you felt was close to you, but they flip on you without giving you the script? Marvin Lewis hurt my feelings.”

Ochocinco has repeated several times that he loves Lewis, but he’s too hurt to make it work in 2011. When he was asked if the Bengals should select Georgia receiver A.J. Green with the No. 4 overall pick in the draft, Ochocinco responded with: “He’d be perfect. I’ve done all I can, my time is up.”

On Friday, Ochocinco turned it up a notch with his criticism of Lewis:

“Lewis: who’s 60-67 all-time, 0-2 in playoffs, and only 2 seasons with +.500 record, can’t criticize my thumbs for tweeting. They win 4 me”

Is anyone surprised by Ochocinco’s comments? This is what he does. He likes going against the grain and being flamboyant. He likes the attention and he likes being boisterous. He thrives off this and he doesn’t really care about what he says and he doesn’t care about what you think. This…is…what…he…does.

The problem with “what he does” is that people are getting tired of it. It seems like Lewis and the Bengals are tired of the way Ocho handles himself and even people outside of the organization are sick of his act as well.

So the fact that Ochocinco says these things doesn’t bother me and it doesn’t bother some Bengal fans. (Some fans even like it.) But if you’re going to do these things, if you’re going to tweet about how your coach is essentially a loser, then you run the risk of your team flipping on you “without giving you the script.”

The National Football Post is reporting that Carson Palmer is still serious about his request to be traded this offseason. Teammate Andrew Whitworth even went as far as to say that the quarterback “wouldn’t speak out unless it was something he was serious about.”

But a trade or outright release still seems highly unlikely at this point. Things can change rather quickly in the NFL so I’m not suggesting that there’s zero chance that Palmer could play elsewhere next season, but here are three reasons I believe he’ll remain a Bengal.

1. His contract.
Palmer signed a six-year, $118.75 million contract extension in 2005. He’s set to make $11.5 million the next two years, $13 million in 2013 and $14 million in 2014 before he becomes a free agent in 2015. He’s 31 and hasn’t been the same quarterback since he suffered that knee injury in the 2004 playoffs. How can the Bengals convince any team to take on his salary and part with a draft pick(s)? Unless Palmer were to take a significant pay cut and/or the Bengals were willing to accept less value for a starting quarterback (which Palmer still is, regardless of his struggles the past couple of seasons), he won’t be moved. Releasing him is still an option, but keep in mind that the Bengals are the ones that want to retain him. It’s Palmer who wants out.

2. Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco will be gone.
When Jerome Simpson and Andre Caldwell were his starting receivers the last two weeks of the season, Palmer put up his best numbers of the year and actually looked like he was having fun again. Maybe the having fun part is a misconception but it’s not hard to believe that Palmer is worn out from playing with guys like Ochocinco, T.O. and T.J. Houshmandzadeh. They’re always open, they always want the ball and they’re always in either Palmer or Marvin Lewis’ ear. But Owens (a free agent) probably won’t be back and Houshmandzadeh is long gone, which only leaves Ochocinco. There have been conflicting reports about whether or not the Bengals want to keep the Ocho for next year. But when you consider he’s 33, his production has started to decline, he’s scheduled to make $6 million in the final year of his contract and he can be a headache, it would appear that there’s only a slim chance he’ll return next season. If the Bengals can guarantee Palmer that he doesn’t have to deal with some of the distractions that he’s had to put up with his entire career, it stands to reason that he would give Cincinnati another try.

3. Jay Gruden.
The Bengals fired Bob Bratkowski as offensive coordinator and hired Jay Gruden to provide a spark to the offense. In Bratkowski’s system, the receiver’s routes took time to develop, which meant Palmer had to sit in the pocket and was seemingly always under duress. But Gruden’s system is designed for the quarterback to get the ball out of his hands quickly and is much more quarterback-friendly (as was Jon Gruden’s West Coast Offense in Tampa Bay and Oakland). Thus, if the Bengals could rid themselves of T.O. and Ochocinco and provide Palmer with a more quarterback-friendly system, it may rejuvenate him. (Then the team doesn’t have to worry about drafting a signal caller at No. 4 when they have so many other needs to address.) Of course, the Bengals still have to part ways with Ochocinco and convince Palmer that things will be better, but hey, it’s a long offseason. They have some time.

Comment Starter: Will Palmer remain a Bengal or will the team look to trade or release him this offseason?

The battle between Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis and receiver Chad Ochocinco is turning into a tale of two scorned lovers.

Early last week, Ochocinco sent the Boston Herald’s Ian Rapoport a Twitter message suggesting that he’d welcome a trade to the Patriots this offseason. A couple days later, Lewis took a shot at his star receiver by saying: “Nobody was talking about him. He didn’t stand that,” which was in reference to Ocho’s desire for attention. Lewis then went on to say: “You want them to talk about you, win football games.”

At the Senior Bowl on Monday, Lewis again took a swipe at his receiver, this time saying that Bill Belichick is “smarter” than to acquire a player like Ochocinco. So in one week, Lewis basically called his best receiver an attention-starved diva and then suggested that one of the league’s best coaches was smart enough to stay away from him.

For a guy who reportedly wanted out of Cincinnati because of the circus-like atmosphere, Lewis sure is turning up the drama lately. And if Belichick is too smart to take on a headache like Ochocinco, then what does that make Lewis for keeping him on the roster? If he’s that much of a distraction, why doesn’t Lewis convince the higher ups to get rid of the Ocho?

Ochocinco and T.O. both said on their latest episode of “The T.Ocho Show” that they would love to play for the Jets next season. So while Ochocinco continues to lobby to play for other teams, his head coach is taking not-so-subtly jabs at him.

This situation is turning ugly.

In rather surprising news, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that Marvin Lewis is now expected to return as the Bengals’ head coach in 2011.

Schefter knows what I ate from breakfast, so I’m sure this report is on the money. If so, it’s rather shocking considering it looked like Lewis was on the outs as of yesterday.

I don’t know why Lewis would want to return to the mess that is the Cincinnati Bengals but maybe owner Mike Brown promised to make some changes. The Bengals have one of the smallest scouting staffs in the league and Lewis was reportedly frustrated by the way Brown runs the organization. But maybe he had a change of heart after meeting with Brown on Monday.

If Lewis is given a new contract, his first order of business should be to figure out what to do with quarterback Carson Palmer. If the Bengals still feel as though Palmer can get them to the playoffs and beyond, they may want to think about parting ways with Chad Ochocinco. Palmer’s best game came against the Chargers in Week 16 and he played well against Baltimore in Week 17. Both of those performances came with Ochocinco and Terrell Owens were both out with injuries.

At this point, it might be worth it to the Bengals to see what Palmer can do next year without receivers like Ochocinco, T.O. and T.J. Houshmandzadeh buzzing in his ear. One would think that the Bengals’ offense would be worse off without a player like Ochocinco, but Palmer’s last two games tell a different story.

There have already been reports that the Bengals won’t bring back Terrell Owens next season. And if they believe that Carson Palmer’s success Sunday against the Chargers was, in part, of both T.O. and Chad Ochocinco not being in the lineup, then they may part with The Ocho next season, too.

Palmer had his best game of the season on Sunday in absence of T.O. and Ochocinco, who were both nursing injuries. He completed 16-of-21 passes for 269 yards and four touchdowns. His completion percentage of 76.2 and his QB rating of 157.2 was his highest of the season – by far. It was also the most touchdown passes he’s thrown in a single game this year and he didn’t throw an interception.

Granted, it was only one game. And one game is too small a serving size to draw any conclusions about whether or not Palmer is a better quarterback with or without Ochocinco, T.O., T.J. Houshmandzadeh or whatever other receiver that isn’t afraid to express his desire to need the ball. But it’s somewhat telling that Palmer had his best game with T.O. and Ochocinco standing on the sideline. This wasn’t the Redskins or Panthers that Palmer lit up either – it was the San Diego Chargers, the top ranked defense in the league.

T.O. had season-ending surgery a week ago and Ochocinco may not play next week either. It’ll be interesting to see how Palmer plays against a Ravens team that is still fighting for first place in the AFC North. If he’s efficient, then maybe the Bengals need to consider taking a longer look at keeping Palmer and jettisoning Ochocinco. After all, this team is long overdue for an offensive makeover and maybe getting rid of Palmer isn’t the answer like some are suggesting.

Again, it was only one game and there are plenty of reasons to think that Palmer isn’t, and hasn’t been the same player since suffering that knee injury in 2004. That said, it’ll still be interesting to watch him play next week without worrying about appeasing any of his receivers.

On Tuesday night’s episode of the “T.Ocho Show,”Chad Ochocinco discussed the possibility of not returning to the Bengals. He sees “significant” changes being made for the 2011 season and he doesn’t know if the team will retain him.

From the Cincinnati Enquirer:

Says Ochocinco about next season: “I’d love to see Terrell come back next year. As far as myself, I don’t even know if I’ll be back next year. … Changes will be made and they’ll be significant.”

Some pundits believe that the Bengals are unlikely to pick up Ocho’s $6 million option for next year. The team has to make decisions about whether or not to retain other key offensive players such as Cedric Benson and Carson Palmer and may not want to spend $6 million to keep a receiver when a makeover is paramount.

Offensively, the Bengals have been inconsistent the past two years. The one thing they had going for them on that side of the ball last year was that they could run. But after spending the offseason trying to upgrade the passing game with the additions of T.O. and rookie tight end Jermaine Gresham, the entire offense has taken a step backwards. Now Cincinnati is to the point where it has to consider gutting the whole thing and starting from scratch.

Will that require jettisoning players like Ochocinco and Palmer? Maybe.

What, did you really think T.O. would go through an entire 16-game losing season and not say a word?

On the latest installment of the T.Ocho Show on Versus (side note: Does anyone watch that show? I can count on zero fingers how many people I know that do.), Ochocinco asked Owens why the Bengals are 2-11.

Not surprisingly, T.O. had an answer.

From the Cincinnati Enquirer:

“I think there is underachieving you know from the top down,” Owens said. “You start off with the owner, you start off with the coaches and obviously we as players. We are a product of what the coaches are doing, are coaching us throughout the course of the week. Of course we have to go out there and play the game but in order for us to do what we’re allowed to do at the best of our ability the coaches have to put the players in the best position.”

I’ve seen headlines that read, “T.O. blasts coaching staff,” in reference to the quotes above. But I’ve read what he said about four times now and honestly, I don’t think he’s specifically calling out his coaching staff. And in the grand spectrum of things, this is T.O. Lite in comparison to the stuff that usually comes out of his mouth.

It’s not hard to figure out what’s going on with the Bengals. The entire franchise has had a losing mentality since the late 80s and while they’ve had moments over the past two decades (2004, 2009), they’ve largely been stuck in a massive rut. They thought they found a capable head coach in Marvin Lewis to turn things around and it looks like he isn’t the answer. They thought they found a capable quarterback in Carson Palmer to lift the franchise out of the doldrums and he hasn’t been the same since the hit he took in the ’04 playoffs.

But it’s not just the head coach and it’s not just the quarterback – it’s a collection of things that have led the Bengals to this point. The players aren’t executing, the game plans that the coaches are putting together are failing miserably and the ownership doesn’t have a clue how to turn things around. And unfortunately for all parties involved, there seemingly are no answers and no solutions.

Actually, there is one solution but Mike Brown has been unwilling to agree to it: they need to hire a general manager. Hire a good general manager (I’m sure the Patriots have one lying around in their film room), allow him to pick his head coach and then find a quarterback. Once those three things are in place, maybe the ball will get rolling forward for once instead of backwards onto the legions of fans that still mercifully support this team.

I know it’s easier said than done, but at what point does Mike Brown punch a hole through his drawing board and start over?