The Arizona Cardinals may be considering moving on from David Johnson this offseason, but they are apparently not going to simply release him.
Cardinals general manager Steve Keim told reporters on Friday that cutting Johnson is “not an option.” The GM also spoke about having multiple running backs that you can rely on, which seemed to be an indicator that Johnson could be back with Arizona in 2020.
.@AZCardinals GM Steve Keim, talking on @AZSports about RB David Johnson:
"Cutting him is not an option."Added that in backfield, "you can't just have one back."
— Darren Urban (@Cardschatter) February 14, 2020
Johnson is set to earn $10.2 million next season, so the Cardinals would probably trade him if an opportunity arose. The 28-year-old had just 715 total yards from scrimmage and six touchdowns in 13 games this past season. There’s no reason to think he will be a major part of Kliff Kingsbury’s offense going forward.
Kenyan Drake exploded for the Cardinals down the stretch after they acquired him in a trade with the Miami Dolphins, rushing for 363 yards and scoring seven touchdowns over Arizona’s final three games. Drake averaged 6.0 yards per carry through that span and looked to be a great fit, but he is set to become a free agent. He may have earned himself a huge contract with his performance.
The ideal scenario for the Cardinals this offseason would probably be trading Johnson and re-signing Drake, but neither of those things are a given.
