We have lauded the Miami Dolphins for their signing of Chad Ochocinco in large part because we have assumed that his contract was a low-risk move.
After seeing the numbers, you could call it a no-risk move.
Peter King of SI.com reported Tuesday that Ochocinco signed for the veteran's minimum of $925,000 deal. He can double that through incentives to just over $2 million, but he will need to catch 80 passes to do that. He caught 15 last year.
Basically, the Dolphins can cut him before the season starts with no penalty. There is no guaranteed money. And we think Ochocinco will have to earn a starting job to even make the team.
As NFL.com reporter Jeff Darlington points out, the Ochocinco move is a sign that the team is doing business differently than it did during the Bill Parcells era. That doesn't mean this was an especially risky move by general manager Jeff Ireland.