In a development that should come as a surprise to no one, Jim Wyatt of The Tennesseean reported on Friday that the Tennessee Titans have informed Chris Johnson he will be released. The move will save the team $6 million in cap space for the 2014 season.
Johnson made it clear a while back that he would never take a pay cut to remain with the Titans. It has been relatively obvious since Ken Whisenhunt was hired that Johnson is not his guy. Whisenhunt and general manager Ruston Webster have been given several chances to back Johnson, yet they have always stopped short of saying he is in the team’s future plans. That’s because he wasn’t.
Johnson can be one of the most explosive players in the game when he tries, but he has a tendency to take plays off and not give 100% effort. There’s a reason some of his former teammates have described him as selfish.
All that said, Johnson is still only 28 years old. Despite all the criticism he has faced, the former East Carolina star has never rushed for less than 1,000 yards in a season during his six-year NFL career. He won’t get the type of money that the Titans gave him on the open market, but plenty of teams — one of which will be the New York Jets — will have a high interest in CJ?K.
