Chris Johnson is a promising young RB from the Tennessee Titans who has taken the NFL by storm. His first two seasons have been record breaking, and I love his tenacious running style. He is a true every-down, all purpose back. I will be following him and his two teammates Vince Young and Kenny Britt as they try and lead their team to the playoffs this year. They are three exciting guys who could do some real damage together.
That being said, Johnson has been making noise regarding his contract and demanding a new deal. There has been some talk of a possible hold out. I have spent a lot of time thinking about this, and at first I was on Johnsons side. There is no question that he has outplayed his rookie contract. No one expected this type of production this quickly form the undersized RB. He has looked like a top 3 runner and he certainly isn't being paid that way. IMHO he is the best all around back in the NFL, but he only has 2 seasons under his belt.
I have always had one simple philosophy regarding when it is appropriate to call a player great. I think if you can string together 3 elite seasons, you can be considered an elite player. Put together 10-15 and you will probably be a hall of famer. I remember back in 2005 when everyone started fawning over another promising 'Johnson': Larry Johnson.
He started 9 games and put up over 1700 yards rushing. Some were expecting great things from LJ and were calling him the leagues best... after 9 games. Thats when I adopted my philosophy regarding 3 years. In 2006 LJ had another good year and after that he fell off the face of the earth. He turned out to have a horrible work ethic and attitude and he has now bounced to 3 different teams in the past 12 months. Thats why it's important to establish a track record... it puts to rest any durability or desire concerns.
LJ is a perfect example of why NFL owners need to start being smarter with the contracts they are allowing themselves to be bullied into. They are allowing the super greedy agents of the world to financially hold their franchises hostage, and when a guy like Al Davis or Dan Snyder invest tens of millions of dollars in players that show little to no return, the fans end up picking up the check. Al Davis has handed out absurd contracts to players like Nnamdi Asomugha and it has long lasting ramifications. The Jets are facing a long nasty war with Revis that could lead to a hold out because he wants to be paid like his counter part from Oakland. Nnamdi is a major talent, but his contract is simply over inflated.
These two toxic twins hand out cash to average players and unproven draft picks, and it hurts all of the other 30 teams in the NFL. Chris Johnson can thank these two deranged multi-millionaires for the boat load of cash he is about to get. Players like Revis, Andre Johnson from Houston and Chris Johnson signed contracts that still have significant time left on them, but they are watching hacks like Albert Hanesworth and Jamarcus Russell cash in.
The Titans are fighting a battle here that will affect the salary cap, ticket prices, merchandise prices and the overall tone of labor negotiations for years to come. The NFL has to get away from this new trend of guaranteeing huge sums of money to players who could suffer a career ending injury at any time. I think NFL contracts should be at least 70% incentive based. If you aren't getting it done on the field, you don't cash in. It would be very easy to structure a deal that protected a player if they suffered a season ending injury.
Put up another spectacular year in 2010 Chris and then I would start talking if I was the Titans GM.
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