Gawd, I'm so tempted to post this link on the Bengals ESPN board. It would just eat at them to see Nate ranked above Housh...
It's about upside. Housh is what, 31? Nate's 25. This assumes Nate will ever grab more than about half of the balls thrown his way. I lie the kid, would love to see him stick and compete here, and he's the best #3 we've had in some time (remember Lee Mays?). But I think Housh will get a better deal despite his age because of his productivity and hands. Is his game predicated on speed, or is he more a Ward kinda guy, tough and crafty? I say the latter. I don't think he's a fit here, but for the Eagles, or Seahawks, yeah.
Frankly, I don't much like these FA WRs. I don't know that Baker (or Nance) will ever really hit it in the bigs, but Sweed is certainly someone I think can come in this year. Getting him that early experience, even those devastating drops, will help him in the long term. His strength coming out of Texas was those hands, so when these beat reporters gleefully say he was dropping everything in practice, too, remember that a lot of that's in his head. It takes a year, sometimes two.
So what we're looking at is getting someone in for that year or two, to push Sweed, and maybe take the #3 spot for a while. Not a lot of guys will want to do that: if they were #3s, they'll be looking for more action.
IMO, Nate gets more money elsewhere, we sign a late rounder for the slot/KR, and maybe we bring in a cheap FA like Shaun MacDonald.
