According to the agent of Andre Johnson, his client wants to play for a Super Bowl contender for the remainder of his career. The Houston Texans aren’t there at the moment. The New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks seem like the best options right now.
Johnson isn’t a free agent yet. He has asked the Texans to either trade him or release him, and he’s probably willing to negotiate a much smaller deal ($10.5 million salary this season) in order to put himself on a team that gives him the opportunity to play for a title, as difficult as it might be to actually make the right and calculated decision about who is more likely to go all the way.
We’ve mentioned the Colts yesterday as a team that would love to add him on, but the Colts aren’t a proven product – not when it comes to winning it all. The Patriots and Seahawks, playing for the last Super Bowl title, seem to be very well set up to make another run next season.
The Patriots are probably the best option. Until we actually see his decline happen in more than one game once a month, Tom Brady is still a very good quarterback. Someone Johnson has never had the likes-of throw to him in Houston. The situation in New England when it comes to receivers will benefit Johnson. He won’t be a number one option – that’s for Rob Gronkowski to do. But it’ll also give Johnson a lot of open looks and one on one situations if not better. His size and strength should allow him to thrive.
And the Seahawks? Russell Wilson isn’t Tom Brady, but he’s a very good quarterback of a different kind. He also has less impressive options surrounding him in the passing game. For example, Jermaine Kearse started all of last season, but while he was on the field for 821 snaps, he managed just 537 receiving yards. He averaged just 1.24 YPRR (yards per route run), well shy of Johnson’s mark. Johnson can easily be a number one option there, fitting in the way Boldin did for the 49ers, only with a better quarterback throwing to him.
Other teams are going to try and get in on this, either via trade or by waiting for the Texans to release him. But Johnson is looking for the best situation to end up with a Super Bowl ring. There aren’t a lot of teams capable of offering him that.