Tank's Suspension Expected Tomorrow

The Chicago Tribune's David Haugh writes today that it's expected the NFL will announce that Tank Johnson will be suspended somewhere between six and eight games on Monday.

This doesn't really come as a surprise for anybody, as it's been expected that Tank will probably miss half the season thanks to Roger Goodell's much needed disciplinary policy. If anything, it'll just be a relief to get the announcement out of the way.

What I don't get quite as much is Haugh's reasoning that Tank's suspension will help his career.

Forget the lost wages approaching $200,000 in the game checks Johnson will forfeit. He stands to make up that and more when it comes time to negotiate his next Bears contract, which could come shortly after next season ends.

Johnson's modest contract paying him $548,000 runs out in 2008. But he can put himself near the front of the line for an extension next off-season if he simply shows flashes in the second half that prove his play on the field is worth the high maintenance off of it.

In theory, the layoff only will make Johnson more durable for the stretch run and more marketable heading into an incentive-laden, contract-drive season of 2008. Even if the Bears have locked up Tommie Harris by then, which is likely, they might decide before the '08 season that it makes sense to re-up Johnson, too, to retain a defensive tackle tandem that could be one of the NFC's best for years.

Yeah, I'm not quite sure I buy that. While it's possible that Tank can get his head together over the next season or two and become a model citizen, I'm not sure that means that the Bears are going to want to invest a lot of money in a guy who could be a risk.

Think about it, the McCaskey's didn't even want to pay Lovie Smith the money he deserved, why would they be so willing to give Tank Johnson a fat contract?

Not to mention that with Tommie Harris at one of the tackle spots, he automatically makes the guy lined up next to him twice as good since he commands all the double teams. All of which means it won't be hard to replace Tank Johnson with somebody else.