Mark Curnutte of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that the Bengals would face a cap charge of $8.03 million by trading receiver Chad Johnson.  But Curnutte doesn’t address two important details that would reduce the practical consequences in 2008.

First, assuming that the number quoted by Curnutte reflects only the gross cap acceleration, the net hit would be $4.78 million, given that the Bengals wouldn’t have to pay Johnson his $3.25 million salary in 2008.

Second, much of the acceleration can be deferred if Johnson is traded after June 1.  Under the pre-2006 CBA, this wasn’t the case; any trade resulted in a full acceleration of all remaining signing bonus money.  Under the current labor contract, only the current year’s bonus allocation applies if the player is traded after June 1.  The rest of the unallocated signing bonus money would hit the cap in the next year.

Also, we need to pick a fairly minor nit with Curnutte’s report.  He says that Johnson would forfeit his $3.25 million salary if he is traded or released.  If he is traded, however, the new team would inherit Johnson’s contract, and would owe him $3.25 million in 2008.

Finally, even if the full cap hit were $8.03 million, we’re talking about the Bengals here.  Trading or cutting Johnson before June 1 would make it easier for the cost-conscious Bengals to satisfy the mandatory salary floor without having to spend all of the requisite dollars in the current cap year.