I guess with age does come wisdom because Chad Ochocinco, the 34 year old wideout has restructured his 2012 contract with the New England Patriots, which means taking a $2 million pay cut. This eliminates the possibility of him being released, making him $1 million for the upcoming NFL season rather than the $3 million he was due to be owed.
In real life, the tender age of 34 is still relatively young; however when speaking in terms of NFL lingo, it makes him seem as though he was born in the age where dinosaurs were still present. You can see that Ochocinco steadily has matured over the past few years which can be looked at in a few possible ways.
One is because he’s not scoring touchdowns which has diminished some of his No Fun League (NFL) antics and kept him under a more humble radar. Another way to look at it is that Ochocinco could be at a point where his ego and numbers do not matter to him at all. He probably took notes from former friends and players who were kicked out of the league for what will be considered to be reasons related to being a pre-Madonna. Players such as Randy Moss and Terrel Owens were all prime time players at one point in their career but failed to realise that the market for aging, formerly disruptive receivers isn’t what it once was.
Chad has realised that at this point in his career he wants to win a championship and his chances of winning is now with the New England Patriots and his stock or services to the other remaining 31 teams is minimal to none. After all, Ochocinco had a dissapointing season last year and his salary to performance ratio did not add up.
In the 2011 offseason where he was traded for multiple low round picks, earning $6 million in salary and bonuses, he posted career lows in receptions, yards, and touchdowns. Overall this is a solid move for both parties as Ochocinco still has a team he can call home and the Patriots get to have a low risk talent on its roster. Ochocinco still has a chance to resurrect his career with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady along with some of his attention seeking headlines which i’m positive Belichick will not be fond off or tolerate.
