It's official....Henry is back

The Bengals today signed free agent WR Chris Henry.

Henry (6-4, 200; West Virginia) is a fourth-year NFL player. He rejoins the Bengals after being released by Cincinnati on April 3 of this year. He played in 35 games with 11 starts for Cincinnati over the 2005-07 seasons, with 88 receptions for 1370 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Henry will be on a four-week NFL suspension to open the 2008 regular season, due to violation of the NFL’s Personal Conduct Policy.

Henry is eligible as of today to join whatever team preseason activities are assigned to him by the coaching staff. He is eligible to play in the final two preseason games. His suspension will begin on Mon., Sept. 1, the start of the practice week for Cincinnati’s Sept. 7 regular season opener. During the suspension, he will be held out of practices as well as Games 1-4. He may resume full activities on Mon., Sept. 29, the start of the practice week for Game 5, on Oct. 5 at Dallas.

A player with a history of off-field problems, Henry was released by the Bengals this spring after being charged with assault following an incident in Cincinnati. But charges against Henry were dropped after a trial resulted in a hung jury, with six of eight jurors voting to acquit him. Henry has no further matters pending in the courts.

The NFL placed Henry on indefinite suspension following the assault charge, but the suspension was subsequently revised to four games.

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More on Henry
Enquirer.com
The Bengals are expected to announce Tuesday that they've re-signed wide receiver Chris Henry to a one-year contract. He must first take a physical early Tuesday morning and be examined by the team's medical staff. Henry flew to Cincinnati today. He had been released April 3 after his fifth arrest as a Bengals employee. Charges against Henry were later dismissed. He had been under house arrest in his downtown Cincinnati apartment and forced to wear an electronic monitor on his ankle.

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Don't forget....
That Chris Henry won't even play with the team until week 5 as he is under suspension through the first four games of the season. Just one of several reasons why the Bengals aren't serving their best interest in signing him....if it's indeed true.

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Devil's advocate
I know it's unreasonable to think that Henry has "turned the corner." But let's for a moment pretend that he has...and stays "clean" during the season after his suspension...and goes on to help the Bengals win some games and be a playoff-caliber team. Would the fans keep calling for Henry's ticket out of town? Would the Bengals "embarassing lack of ethics" for resigning him stay on the front page? Probably not.

Posed with question: Would you rather have ethics or wins?...the sad but true tale is at the end of the day, Bengals fans would choose wins. Because Cincinnati fans are starved for a winner.