OT: Chris Johnson signs 4/yr, $53.5mil extension!

[Calciumee]

$30 million guaranteed!

Per Jim Wyatt:

BREAKING: TItans agreed to 4-yr 53.5 million deal with Chris Johnson. 30 guaranteed

Twitter

As Schefter just tweeted, imagine what Viking will have to give Peterson, who is a FA next year!

 

[Danielbaron1]

Too much for a running back. He had a 1300 rushing yards. The law firm had a 1006. We only pay bjge like 500k per year lol

 

[patriot lifer]

Wow. I didn't think they'd give him that much money.


So what are the odds he plays out the entirety of the contract with no modifications?

 

[patchick]

As talented as Johnson is, that's indefensible as a football contract. It has to be an entertainment contract, paying him to keep the team interesting more than competitive.

 

[RodThePat]

I thought by now the (correct) assumption that RB's are dime a dozen was ingrained in the minds of front offices across the league. Guess not.

 

[Rob0729]

Too much for a running back. He had a 1300 rushing yards. The law firm had a 1006. We only pay bjge like 500k per year lol

There is a significant difference between a 1,300 yard back and a 1,000 yard back. That said, Johnson is getting paid far too much for an increasingly pass happy league.

 

[JackBauer]

Too much for a running back. He had a 1300 rushing yards. The law firm had a 1006. We only pay bjge like 500k per year lol

Chris Johnson is 50x the RB that BJGE is.

I would tend to agree that it's too much money, especially because Fisher apparently likes to run his backs into the ground and I'd be surprised if CJ is able to keep up his level of performance given his workload.

 

[Snake Eyes]

There is a significant difference between a 1,300 yard back and a 1,000 yard back. That said, Johnson is getting paid far too much for an increasingly pass happy league.

If defenses are adjusting themselves more towards defending the pass wouldnt running the ball become more effective than it had previously?

 

[JJDChE]

Too much for a running back. He had a 1300 rushing yards. The law firm had a 1006. We only pay bjge like 500k per year lol

I guess you were in a coma in 2009.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

Chris Johnson is 50x the RB that BJGE is.

I would tend to agree that it's too much money, especially because Fisher apparently likes to run his backs into the ground and I'd be surprised if CJ is able to keep up his level of performance given his workload.

Fisher is no longer there.

I guess it's better than 8 year, $106 million.

Mike Lombardi is very high on the Titans this year. Perhaps, with VW gone, they can make the next step and feel they need Johnson.

Actually I believe the money is not materially different from what AP is making this year.

 

[JackBauer]

Fisher is no longer there.

I guess it's better than 8 year, $106 million.

Mike Lombardi is very high on the Titans this year. Perhaps, with VW gone, they can make the next step and feel they need Johnson.

Actually I believe the money is not materially different from what AP is making this year.

As I'm sure you're aware, Chris Johnson has spent almost his entire career playing for Jeff Fisher.

 

[Rob0729]

If defenses are adjusting themselves more towards defending the pass wouldnt running the ball become more effective than it had previously?

Potentially, but it could take several years for that. There are still plenty of teams that are strong against the run even with the shift to a pass happy league. If it takes two to three years to see that trend happen, it is a waste of a contract since Johnson would have been paid most of the money before the shift and will be looking for a new deal.

 

[Rob0729]

I guess you were in a coma in 2009.

C'mon, he was close. He only did slightly more than 1,300 yards in 2009. He was only like 700 yards off.

Besides, even if he maxed out at 1,300 yards, those 300 yards are a big difference when comparing two RBs.

 

[Snake Eyes]

Potentially, but it could take several years for that. There are still plenty of teams that are strong against the run even with the shift to a pass happy league. If it takes two to three years to see that trend happen, it is a waste of a contract since Johnson would have been paid most of the money before the shift and will be looking for a new deal.

I wonder how much they’re viewing this as an investment in Locker, who will be a lot better off with a strong running game while he develops.

 

[JJDChE]

C'mon, he was close. He only did slightly more than 1,300 yards in 2009. He was only like 700 yards off.

Besides, even if he maxed out at 1,300 yards, those 300 yards are a big difference when comparing two RBs.

Yeah, it's the difference between a stud and a scrub. Chris Johnson is a dominating player. We could replace BJGE with half the RBs in the league and get the same production. No offense to BJGE, that's just the way it is.

 

[jmt57]

I wonder how much of this is a business decision (appeasing their fan base) and how much of it is a football decision.

Tennessee has a new head coach and a new quarterback, and due to the lockout almost no time to get a new system installed with everybody on the same page. With that in mind I don't think they are going to be all that good this year. If that does turn out to be the case, then at least their fans now have some reason to remain interested, and one less reason to grumble.

 

[patsfaninpittsburgh]

As I'm sure you're aware, Chris Johnson has spent almost his entire career playing for Jeff Fisher.

Yes, I am aware.

However, 3 years to run down is awfully short even for RB's.

My assumption is you were referring to the fact that Fisher WOULD run him down vs having already been run down.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Too much for a running back. He had a 1300 rushing yards. The law firm had a 1006. We only pay bjge like 500k per year lol

They're not even close to comparable.

Honestly, I don't hate this contract for the Titans as much a a lot of you seem to. Johnson is their offense. They're the anti-Patriots; to whatever extent they are able to pass, it is primarily because Johnson is a threat to take it to the house on every single down. The one year that the Titans had a remotely credible passing threat at QB, he went and got 2,000 yards. The guy is a freak.

Age-wise, he's going to turn 26 later this month, which means that he'll be 31 when this contract ends. That's old in RB years, but is it any crazier than giving Peyton Manning his most recent contract that runs until he's 40? I think everyone would aknowledge that the Titans will be overpaying for Johnson in the last year or two of that contract, but when you take the four year extension, average that out with what they have him for for the next two years, and it's not obscene considering the production that they're going to get over the next few seasons.

There's also the side point that the Titans are now invested in Johnson long-term. If they want him to be worth the money he's getting in 2015, then they can take steps towards that by not running him into the ground now by not giving him the ball ~350 times per year. That's why I didn't blame him for the holdout in the first place- Jeff Fisher was blatantly running him into the ground without a care in the world for what it did to Johnson's future career and earning potential, because he was trying to save his own job. I don't know or care whether there's anything innately "wrong" with that, but it was clear as day that nobody on the Titans was looking out for Johnson's best interests, so he had to look out for his own. Now, with this contract, the Titans have some actual incentive to care about his future productivity.

 

[patchick]

They're not even close to comparable.

Honestly, I don't hate this contract for the Titans as much a a lot of you seem to. Johnson is their offense. They're the anti-Patriots; to whatever extent they are able to pass, it is primarily because Johnson is a threat to take it to the house on every single down. The one year that the Titans had a remotely credible passing threat at QB, he went and got 2,000 yards. The guy is a freak.

Age-wise, he's going to turn 26 later this month, which means that he'll be 31 when this contract ends. That's old in RB years, but is it any crazier than giving Peyton Manning his most recent contract that runs until he's 40?

IMO there are 3 huge differences between Johnson's contract and Manning's. The first 2, of course are that Johnson wasn't a free agent, and doesn't play quarterback. The 3rd is that if the Colts hadn't given Manning those $$, a half dozen other teams would have gladly leapt in to offer just as much. But how many teams would really be vying to pay any RB $13.4 million/year?

That said, the BJGE comparison is pretty silly. Johnson has a career average of 5.0 ypc, and throw in an average of 20 yards a game receiving, too. Those aren't Green-Ellis numbers by any means. Those are Danny Woodhead-type numbers!

 

[Rob0729]

Yeah, it's the difference between a stud and a scrub. Chris Johnson is a dominating player. We could replace BJGE with half the RBs in the league and get the same production. No offense to BJGE, that's just the way it is.

I was down on BJGE before last year, but he is not a scrub. I think he is better than you make him out to be. He isn't remotely in Johnson's class, but he was an above average RB in the league. He could possibly the best RB in this division.