A fantastic comeback season for Chris Johnson with the Arizona Cardinals ended abruptly with a week 12 injury. Now, a free agent, he’s willing to play for only two teams next season: The Miami Dolphins or go back to the Cardinals.
The 30-year old running back isn’t giving any other team visits. Just Miami. The Dolphins went after quite a few running backs in the previous weeks, but have whiffed on all of them, and are now trying to add something that could help them bounce back from a very disappointing season. Lamar Miller took a huge offer from the Houston Texans and C.J. Anderson, who agreed to an impressive contract offer, is staying with the Broncos, who surprisingly matched the offer sheet.
Johnson played for just $870,000 last season, coming off a rough year with the New York Jets and getting cut by the Tennessee Titans. After rushing for 814 yards and 3 touchdowns in 11 games, Johnson is probably going to be looking for a little bit more this time. He doesn’t add much in terms of the passing game and he isn’t as fast as he was during his best years in Tennessee, but this is a running back that gets to 1000 yards when he plays enough games and is used enough. Averaging 74 yards per game was his best since the 2012 season.
The Cardinals are open to re-signing Johnson, but he won’t be the #1 back, with David Johnson and Andre Ellington getting their share of the ball. In Miami it’ll be easier for him to get touches, with only Jay Ajayi looking like a “threat” to steal some carries. The Dolphins are in a good spot with over $21 million in cap space, while the Cardinals are running things a bit more tightly, with $9.6 million left under the cap.