Chris Johnson remains on the free agent market after getting released by the Tennessee Titans and teams like the Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots, Miami Dolphins and Denver Broncos all could be in the mix to sign him before the draft, but some teams may wait until the event in May to see if they still want the released star.
Johnson hits the market at the age of 28 and this comes after six seasons with the Titans and in those years he went over 1,000 yards in each of his seasons, but that wasn't enough to keep him around. The Titans did not want to pay Johnson $8 million and one top of that they were disappointed with the way he worked out and handled himself and now he is on the market and the move to release him saved the team $4 million. The team prepared for this by signing Shonn Greene last season and grabbing Dexter McCluster this year and now Jake Locker has two solid backs to make up for the loss of Johnson.
For a time, Johnson was considered to be the most explosive back in football and he set a record at the NFL combine and that was one reason why he was drafted in the first round. Johnson had over 2,000 yards in his second season, but he never could live up to that performance and now he is on the market and a team like the NY Jets could also be interested, as they had interest in him when the Titans were shopping for a trade partner. Johnson is still very fast and explosive, but not to the extent he used to be and he is coming off of one of his worst seasons with the Titans.
Last year he rushed for over 1,000 yards again, but he had just 3.9 yards per carry and a long of 30 yards after having a long of over 90 the previous season. Johnson still can be a productive back, but he will need to show teams he is ready to work hard and he also has had contract issues with the Titans at every turn and that could be another reason why he has not been signed. Johnson had just 1,077 yards last season, his lowest in three years and he also had just six touchdowns and 12 over the past two seasons after having 11 and 14 in back to back years earlier in his career.
The Dolphins made sense before they signed Knowshon Moreno and they could be another option for the team even after that, as they did not get enough production out of Lamar Miller and Daniel Thomas last season. The team ranked 26th in the league in rushing and gained only 90 yards per game and another team that could use him is the Cowboys, as they were in the bottom part of the league in rushing as well and could use more depth behind DeMarco Murray. Johnson still can be a solid option and a number of teams could go after him if the interest stays this way heading into the draft.
