Does this just make too much sense? (Andre Johnson wants out of Houston)

Don't get your hopes up people!

Cleveland should be going after him hard

BelichickFan said:

1. Ian Rapoport ‏@RapSheet 3m
   On Andre Johnson: Source tells me he would restructure his contract to help a potential new team get under the salary cap. Not a pay cut tho

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No thanks, in that case.

How much of Andre's remaining 3 years 31 million is guarenteed?

patsinthesnow said:

How much of Andre's remaining 3 years 31 million is guarenteed?

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I think it's around $13.8M.

Breaking: Any NFL player is going to be willing to restructure as long as it doesn't involve taking a pay cut.

patsinthesnow said:

How much of Andre's remaining 3 years 31 million is guarenteed?

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None of it is. The below shows a possible Patriots deal with Andre Johnson.

Ryan Mallett, Danny Amendola, and 2015 third round pick for Andre Johnson.

The Patriots would have the pieces for McDaniel’s 3-WR offense –

QB – Brady
RB – Ridley/Vereen
X-WR – Johnson
Z-WR – Dobson/LaFell
Slot WR – Edelman
TE – Gronkowski

The Texans would the pieces for O’Brien’s 2-TE, slot WR offense –

QB – Mallett
RB – Foster
X-WR – Hopkins
Slot WR- Amendola
Y-TE – Fiedorowicz
Move-TE – Graham

Miguel said:

None of it is. The below shows a possible Patriots deal with Andre Johnson.

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That would put the Pats in pretty rough shape for 2015, wouldn't it? They'd either have Johnson counting $14.5M against the cap and playing or $6M against the cap without playing for them, in addition to having McCourty, Vereen, Ridley, Slater, and Gostkowski as free agents and Revis basically a free agent.

Marqui said:

Exactly, LOL @ cap space being a reason this can't happen.

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Just because the Patriots have the cap room (or, to be more precise, have the ability to create the cap room) doesn't mean they're going to gladly give $10 million a year to this guy.

I honesty want this deal to come to fruition. But, as I have been saying all along, Johnson is going to have to decide if being on a winner is worth a paycut.

Brady_to_Moss said:

Don't get your hopes up people!

Cleveland should be going after him hard

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If all he wants is out of Houston, then Cleveland accomplishes that.

If he wants to play for a contender, Cleveland will just be inviting the same problem Houston currently enjoys.

I always think it is very selfless of a player willing to take a large piece of their base salary in one lump sum now rather than over the course of the season in weekly pay checks.

SB39 said:

Just because the Patriots have the cap room (or, to be more precise, have the ability to create the cap room) doesn't mean they're going to gladly give $10 million a year to this guy.

I honesty want this deal to come to fruition. But, as I have been saying all along, Johnson is going to have to decide if being on a winner is worth a paycut.

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Given he was attempting to do makeup work for the $1M he lost for offseason workouts I would have to guess money is a significant factor. It may just be with the Texans though.

If he wants out so badly, he should be willing to take a significant pay cut, and to return a fair portion of his signing bonus. It he's not, let him stew and keep fining him. This is the NFL, not the NBA.

SB39 said:

If all he wants is out of Houston, then Cleveland accomplishes that.

If he wants to play for a contender, Cleveland will just be inviting the same problem Houston currently enjoys.

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He doesn't strike me as the guy who wants to play for a contender right now..but a guy who wants the most $$

I'm sure the trade compensation side of the equation could be worked out just fine. I think the million dollar question might end up being .... how much does Johnson prefer making more money compared to playing with a HOF QB and being on a serious SB winner.

If he wasn't willing to take a pay cut he wouldn't even be talking trade. Its not even a pay cut really because he is only garunteed like half of that 30 mil. So even in Houston he would be cut after the 2014 season. He probably has another season left of being a true#1 with 1500 yards and 10tds after that his ypc will dwindle down to 11 or 12. Nobody would pay him 13 mil/yr after that including Houston who is looking for a young stud wide out to pair with Hopkins. So he is likely to be cut or have to renegotiate anyways. Their first draft pick in 2015 is likely a WR. Nobody is paying a 34 yr old wr averaging 11-12 ypc 13-15 mil. So Andre knows a restructure is coming no matter where he plays. And Houston knows some if that salary counts against them anyways even if he isn't NFL starter caliber in 2015 so they know they are eating salary one way or another. Its in their best interest to get compensation for a disgruntled aging player while they can because in 2015 they will not get a #2 for Johnson. They will just have to cut him and eat salary anyway. They can use that #2 to help trade up if they have to in 2015 for his successor. Johnson collecting another 1300 yards this season does nothing for Houston now or moving forward. Fitzgerald is another wideout who will be cut. His production has already slipped. Arizona won't pay him $15 mil in 2015.

Brady_to_Moss said:

He doesn't strike me as the guy who wants to play for a contender right now..but a guy who wants the most $$

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If that were true, he would just report and play in his current deal. I don't see any way whatsoever he could be traded someplace where he could get more. There is nothing that indicates his (threatened) holdout is simply to renegotiate a higher contract value.

Actually doesn't Bradys cap hit go down next year? Mankins is probably done, he won't be pages 10 mil in 2015 along with Mayo. Especially if Mayo struggles in coverage. No LB who struggles in coverage in this passing league is worth $10 mil. Amendola provides cap relief as well in 2015. I doubt they bring Wilfork back in 2015 either. Not to mention wendall/conolly wont play for the patriots in 2015. If Vollmer doesnt play at least 13\14 games he wont be bsck. I actually like Vollmer,like Gronk he is dominant when he plays. Not to many obeese guys play at a high level at 34. So shouldn't the pats have room to resign young player or free agent talent.

He has already stated that he hates losing. He wants out of Houston because they are not competitive enough for him. What makes people think he would take a big contract as opposed to playing for a contender? People (erroneously) said the same thing about Revis before he was traded.

PatFanCraig said:

Its not even a pay cut really because he is only garunteed like half of that 30 mil.

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Miguel said:

None of it is (guaranteed).

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Miguel is our salary cap expert who runs his own site/cap pages. According to him, none of the remaining 3/31 is guaranteed for Andre Johnson. This fact likely supports your point even more in some aspects.