Read More: Chad Ochocinco (WR – NEP), Jerome Simpson (WR – CIN), Brandon Tate (WR – NEP), Jordan Shipley (WR – CIN), Lee Smith (TE – NEP), A.J. Green (WR – CIN), Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots, Cincinnati Bengals

Adam Schefter reports that the Cincinnati Bengals have claimed former New England Patriots wide receiver Brandon Tate off waivers.

The addition of Chad Ochocinco and a training-camp injury had sent Tate hurtling down the Patriots’ list of receivers, and with the new rules on kickoffs, Tate wasn’t nearly as valuable to the Pats on special teams, either (he had 1,057 yards on kickoff returns last year).

But Tate was the Patriots’ third wide receiver last year, and he’s only in his third year in the league, so the Bengals are getting something here. What’s less clear is what the Bengals will do with him. They just drafted A.J. Green, Jerome Simpson played brilliantly at the end of last season, and Jordan Shipley is already a good third receiver.

The Patriots also lost fifth-round pick Lee Smith, as the tight end was claimed by the Buffalo Bills.

For more on the Patriots, check out Pats Pulpit. For more on the Cincinnati Bengals, check out Cincy Jungle.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – A person familiar with the deal says the New England Patriots have obtained wide receiver Chad Ochocinco from the Cincinnati Bengals.

The person, who spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because neither team had announced the trade, says Ochocinco has agreed to a new three-year deal with New England.

The trade was first reported by ESPN.

It was not known what the Patriots gave the Bengals.

Ochocinco provides another option for Tom Brady, who has been without a deep target since the Patriots traded Randy Moss to the Minnesota Vikings last season. In 10 seasons, all with the Bengals, Ochocinco has 751 catches for 10,783 yards and 66 touchdowns. He has made the Pro Bowl six times.

Read More: Chad Ochocinco (WR – CIN), New England Patriots, Cincinnati Bengals

As they always seem to do, the New England Patriots have pulled off a doozy of a trade by acquiring WR Chad Ochocinco from the Cincinnati Bengals. And as they always seem to do, they did so without giving up very much.

The Bengals will receive two late draft picks from the Patriots in return for the 33-year-old. One of the picks will be in the 2012 NFL Draft while the other will be from the 2013 Draft.

We know that the 2012 pick can’t be the fifth-rounder. That’s already been given to the Washington Redskins for Albert Haynesworth.

The Patriots reportedly beat out the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders for Ochocinco’s services.

Ochocinco spent his entire ten-year career up until this point in Cincinnati.

Check out Pats Pulpit to see what Pats fans think of the new arrival and stay tuned to Cincy Jungle to see how Bengals fans are reacting to the loss.

It’s not often that you can draw a sympathetic character out of an NFL quarterback that refuses to play for his team despite an existing contract with tens of millions of dollars remaining. You’d have to be talking about a team with an unusual amount of dysfunction for that to be the case.

Fortunately for Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer(notes), who is in just such a situation, he’s been playing football for team owner Mike Brown(notes) for years, and that allows everyone to understand why Palmer would rather retire than play anymore for that particular organization. If you want to know what the Bengals are dealing with in Brown, look no further that his Tuesday press conference, in which Brown put his foot down in typically autocratic and ham-fisted fashion, saying that Palmer has retired:

“Carson signed a contract, he made a commitment,” Brown said. “He gave us his word. We relied on his word and his commitment. We expected him to perform here. If he is going to walk away from his commitment we aren’t going to reward him for doing it.”

Put simply, that’s a load of garbage. Never mind that NFL contracts are terminated all the time — on the same afternoon in which Brown was making that ridiculous statement, the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants were releasing huge chunks of their starting offensive lines to stay under the new $120 million salary cap. And while Palmer does have a contract that has him making over $10 million in each of the next four years (in base salary alone, $11.5 million in 2001 and 2012, $13 million in 2013, and $14 million in 2014), that very same contract puts him in the kill zone for either a restructure or release soon down the road. Brown’s talk of “commitments” is as typically ridiculous as you’d expect.

Of course, to look at the other side, Palmer could be making a mistake in refusing to play for the Bengals. Even if you take Chad Ochocinco(notes) out of the equation, the Bengals have somehow put together a nice, young receiver corps with A.J. Green(notes), Jordan Shipley(notes), Jerome Simpson(notes), and tight end Jermaine Gresham(notes). Even if he were able to engineer the release or trade he wants, Palmer may be hard-pressed to find a better young group elsewhere. And let’s be honest about it — Palmer’s skills have atrophied in the last few seasons; he’d most likely have to restructure if he did go to another team.

In the end, Mike Brown gets the booby prize in this equation. He could trade Carson Palmer and help his team, but just as he did three years ago when he refused an offer from the Washington Redskins for two first-round picks in exchange for Ochocinco, Brown once again proved that his focus is never on the team he inherited from his father, Paul Brown (ironically one of the greatest football minds ever) and always on his own misbegotten faith in his ability to run a franchise.

At least Brown understands one thing — a trade from his organization would indeed be a reward.

Related: Carson Palmer, Chad Ochocinco, Mike Brown, A.J. Green, Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Washington Redskins

Read More: Chad Ochocinco (WR – CIN), Marshall Faulk (RB – STL), Cincinnati Bengals, St. Louis Rams

Finally, a victim of the NFL lockout we can all worry about: Chad Ochocinco, crazy wide receiver and possible St. Louis Rams acquisition, is mad at Roger Goodell because he can’t get his cleats and gloves from his equipment manager, who as a member of the Cincinnati Bengals organization is prevented from talking to his mercurial wide receiver. 

I have to say that the lockout has just gone too far when a poor kid like Chad Ochocinco who just wants to play football, ride bulls, and change his name in funny ways is prevented from going to Dick’s Sporting Goods and buying cleats and gloves from the store while his players’ union is locked in a life-or-death struggle with the NFL owners. 

Oh, that’s not it? And he could just go do that anyway? Sorry, what I meant to say is that Chad Ochocinco is a cartoon character, although I’m still kind of intrigued by the possibility of his becoming the craziest St. Louis sports figure since Marshall Faulk started insisting we call him “Trung Canidate” for a few weeks in 2000.