The team has waived wide receiver Doug Gabriel. He had been signed as a free agent earlier this offseason.

When it looked like Chad Johnson wasn’t going to play and the team worried T.J. wouldn’t play either, they signed a bunch of wide receivers. I had read some good things about Gabriel this offseason but he’s a guy that has never really taken off with any team before. Now that Chad is supposed to show, the other receivers have one less spot to fight for.

The Bengals have released linebacker Odell Thurman just about a month after the NFL reinstated him from a two-year suspension.

Thurman had been gone for a week to deal with the passing of his grandmother. He had not come back to attend the team’s voluntary workouts last week.

Thurman’s agent had this to say:  “Everything was fine two weeks ago. He left for a week to deal with the death of his grandmother, and he didn’t make it back. I was just told by coach (Marvin) Lewis that he hadn’t been in the building enough since his reinstatement, and they decided to go in a different direction.”

After sticking by Thurman for the past two years, there has got to be something else going on for this to happen. I can’t imagine the team would release him for dealing with his grandmother’s death. If that is really the case, that doesn’t make the team look very good. But Thurman has had his share of trouble and the team stuck by him so he had to know he was on his last chance.

Still, the team was counting on him and as a fan, I was counting on him and looking forward to seeing him back on the field. We’ll wait and see if something else comes out. If nothing does, I imagine someone is going to have something to say about this. After everything several players have done, Thurman gets cut for missing some voluntary workouts because his grandmother died? It just doesn’t sound right.

The Bengals have signed wide receiver Maurice Purify. He is an undrafted free agent from Nebraska.

The stats that stick out are his multiple run-ins with the law. Purify has been in trouble for assault, resisting arrest and a DUI.

So now the team has drafted Jason Shirley who got drunk and drove his car through a building and they have signed Purify. So much was made about them cleaning things up, but they keep adding players with problems.

If this is going to continue, they might as well have kept Chris Henry. But these new guys have never been in the league and maybe they’ll learn a lesson from their past. The Bengals haven’t had much luck with that recently though.

The team waived linebackers Anthony Schlegel and Roy Manning. They now have nine linebackers on the roster and will have ten when Keith Rivers signs. Hopefully the injury bug doesn’t hit this position like last year.

The team has signed WR Doug Gabriel to a one-year contract. Gabriel was out of the league last year after being released by the Raiders on August 27.

Gabriel if a fifth-year player out of Central Florida. he was drafted by Oakland in 2003 in the third round and was traded to New England before the 2006 season. He was then put on waivers and claimed by Oakland.

He’s got decent size at 6-2. He has 101 career catches for 1,550 yards and 8 touchdowns. He has also returned 86 kickoffs for a 21.5-yard average and a touchdown.

He does have talent but has never really put it all together. With Johnson and Houshmandzadeh to take most of the attention, Gabriel might be able to find some open room. I’d say he’ll more likely spend most of his time returning kicks and the team will surely continue to look at a wide receiver in the upcoming draft.

The Bengals have released RB Quincy Wilson. Wilson is a second-year player from West Virginia. He was arrested last June and charged with disorderly conduct in West Virginia.

Wilson signed with the Bengals on December 26th and played in the season finale. The team has several running backs and Wilson only played the one game so it’s not a big blow to the team. He is the second player released recently that has been in trouble with the law.

It looks like the team is finally getting rid of some troubled players. But with all of the arrests in the last year or two, the Bengals have become a bit of running joke. Some of this is probably a little too late but I don’t blame them for giving Chris Henry every chance they could.

The Bengals decided to part way with wide receiver Chris Henry following his latest arrest. Henry is currently in jail awaiting arraignment on his current assault charges.

Henry did plead not guilty to the charges but it’s clear that the Bengals are tired of putting up with the drama that comes from having him on their team.  His lawyer again stated that they were going to present different facts than what have already been reported.

Bengals president Mike Brown had this to say: “His conduct can no longer be tolerated. The Bengals tried for an extended period of time to support Chris and his potentially bright career. We had hoped to guide him toward an appropriate standard of personal responsibility that this community would support and that would allow him to play in the NFL. … But those efforts end today, as we move on with what is best for our team.”

Henry’s agent, Marvin Frazier, was grateful to the Bengals: “I just want to say that we’re sorry this all happened, and we will continue to try to work to help Chris. I do want to thank the Cincinnati Bengals — Mike Brown, [coach] Marvin Lewis and everyone — for all they have done to try to help this young man. Many of them have gone beyond the call of duty.”

Chad Johnson was interviewed on 1050 ESPN New York. He said “Are you sure? Man, they can’t let him go. That dude is good. He’s very, very good. We need him. Those are not easy shoes to fill, regardless of the trouble he has gotten into in the past.”

Considering that Henry hasn’t even had his trial, I’m a little surprised he was cut but I can’t blame the Bengals for getting fed up. Henry has tremendous talent and should have helped the team for years. They are obviously better off with him on the field. But off the field, he’s just a nightmare. The guy just can’t stay out of trouble. Sure, he makes a lot of money but how much can he have left after all of the court fees and things he’s had to pay the past few years?

It’s quite possible that the league could give Henry a year suspension or just ban him from the league. If he just gets the suspension and can actually manage to stay out of trouble, I’m sure some team will give him another chance. He’s young and talented and there are a lot of teams out there that need good players. It’s too bad Henry couldn’t have turned out to be a better person.

The Indianapolis Colts did not match the Bengals’ offer to tight end Ben Utecht so he is the newest member of the team.  Utecht had signed an offer sheet for a three-year, $9 million deal back on March 14th. But since he was a restricted free agent, the Colts had a little time to match the deal.

Utecht said he is excited to join the Bengals but won’t be there when the team starts their offseason strength and conditioning workouts on Monday.  But he will be there as soon as he can and I’m sure it won’t take long for him to get acclimated with the team.