Williams has signed a 6 year deal with Minnesota worth about $33 million.

A deciding factor is his move is that Leslie Frazier is now with the Vikings. Frazier was the defensive coordinator for the Bengals in 2003 and 2004. Williams loved having Frazier for a coach.

Williams was a good player for the Bengals but ended last season on injured reserve with a thigh injury. He was likely just too expensive to keep. Hopefully the Bengals use the money they could have used on him to sign a few players that can help the defense.

The Bengals appear to have traded a third and fifth-round pick to the Detroit Lions for DT Shaun Rogers. The actual details have not been finalized but this is what I’ve seen so far.

Rogers had 39 tackles and 7 sacks for the Lions last year. He is 29 years old and 340 pounds.

He is a good player that had seemingly lost his desire to play in Detroit. Hopefully he’ll be motivated for his new team.

This move may allow the Bengals more freedom in the upcoming draft. They may not have as great a need for a DT and could look at other positions.

I’ve seen a few mock drafts already and I don’t think I’ve seen two where the Bengals were picking the same guy. I’ve seen safety Kenny Phillips from Miami (Fla), defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis from USC, defensive end Vernon Gholston from Ohio State, offensive tackle Jake Long from Michigan and now I hear that the Bengals would look at running back Darren McFadden should he fall to the ninth pick.

Madieu Williams could leave in free agency so Phillips might be able to fill that spot. Ellis or Gholston would surely help the defense. The Bengals just placed the franchise tag on offensive tackle Stacy Andrews but if Jake Long fell that far, he might be too hard to pass on.

The new one would be McFadden. As his character comes further into question, some teams are less willing to spend a high draft pick on him. He’s definitely a talent and even though the Bengals have some depth (at least on paper) at running back, who couldn’t use one more with the skills that McFadden has? We all know the Bengals have taken many chances on players with character issues but they want to stay away from that now. But if the other players are gone at nine and McFadden is still there, I wonder if they’ll roll the dice one more time.

The Bengals have given wide receiver Antonio Chatman a two-year contract. He’s been injured quite a bit with some groin and hamstring problems but could help the team if healthy. He has 22 receptions in two seasons with the team and has also been used to return punts.

The team also signed defensive end Jonathan Fanene to a three-year contract. He was a seventh-round pick by the Bengals in 2005. Fanene played in 14 games last season and finished the year with 6 tackles and 1 sack.

After placing the franchise tag on Stacy Andrews, the Bengals have yet to sign him to a long-term deal. Marvin Lewis has stated that he is disappointed in their inability to reach this agreement so far but hopefully they can work something out soon.

I hear that Justin Smith could be in demand this offseason. It would be nice to see him come back but only if he didn’t cost too much money. If several teams are interested in him, that just increases my doubt that he’ll be back.

Mark Curnutte of the Cincinnati Enquirer reported that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will decide Odell Thurman’s fate for the upcoming season before training camp starts in July.

Thurman had already been granted permission to train at the Bengals’ facilities with the team. Goodell commented: “What we wanted to do was get him back in a structured environment. He’s in the program. He can make progress. If he can do that, we will make a decision prior to training camp.”

Thurman has managed to stay out of the news and being allowed to train is a good sign so let’s hope he stays on his best behavior and is on the field for the Bengals this season.

The Bengals have placed the franchise tag on offensive lineman Stacy Andrews. They had been deciding between Andrews and defensive end Justin Smith. Smith was the franchise player last season.

Andrews has been offered a one-year deal worth $7.455 million. This would lead me to believe that Smith might be gone but the team has said they’d like to re-sign him. So far, that hasn’t happened.

The NFC defeated the AFC 42-30 today in a pretty entertaining game. It stayed fairly close throughout and there was something for everyone.

For the AFC, Peyton Manning threw for 147 yards and a touchdown. Derek Anderson threw for 103 yards and an interception and Big Ben tossed in 42 yards and a touchdown.

The AFC didn’t run much, with 10 carries total for 45 yards as a team. They threw much more and the team had 26 receptions. For the Bengals, Chad Johnson had 2 catches for 30 yards and T.J. Houshmandzadeh caught 4 passes for 44 yards and 2 touchdowns. That might have put T.J. in the running for Player of the Game but……

The NFC did some scoring as well. Jeff Garcia threw for 117 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Tony Romo threw for 87 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception and Matt Hasselbeck threw for 78 yards and a touchdown.

Adrian Peterson rushed for 129 yards and 2 touchdowns. His 129 yards was the second highest total in a Pro Bowl. Terrell Owens caught 8 passes for 101 yards and 2 touchdowns.

It looked like everyone had fun but now this season is officially over. It’s time for teams to start looking at the draft and next season.

If the Bengals trade Johnson, they would not just be losing one of the best wide receivers in the league. They will also be losing in the cap game. If Johnson is released or traded, the team would get hit with about $8 million towards their cap in 2008.

It seems like Johnson wants to be traded but that would be a large hit against the cap. I wouldn’t want to be in charge of figuring out how to deal with that mess. So if you put that along with Marvin Lewis’ comments about not wanting to trade Chad, it looks like Johnson will be back as a Bengal next year. Providing he doesn’t sit out, of course.

Randy Moss apparently suffered an injury