Titans Are Shopping Criminally Underrated Running Back Chris Johnson

On Wednesday ProFootballTalk.com’s Mike Florio reported that Tennessee Titans are currently shopping running back Chris Johnson and the trade market is, apparently, really starting to heat up. A situation which will undoubtedly cause an awful lot of grumbling amongst fans who remain steadfastly unconvinced of his value.

There are multiple teams said to be interested in his services, though none of the suitors are mentioned by name. With no guaranteed money on the line or bonuses due this season, the Titans have the luxury of being able to take their time in working out a deal—and he might be worth more than you think.

The only pressing deadline being the start of offseason training activities, which is still two months away. That’s because if Johnson were to show up and get injured, the team would be on the hook for his entire salary.

Johnson is going into the fourth year of a seven-year contract and is owed $8 million in 2014. Leveraging a particularly impressive sophomore season in 2009, Johnson held out through the entire preseason in 2010 and was rewarded with a $53.8 million extension.

He, in turn, rewarded the Titans with four-straight years of never living up to his hype, much of which was self-generated. Johnson has hit the 1,000-yard mark in each of his six seasons in the NFL, but has averaged nearly 900 yards less than the performance that got him him paid.

Johnson has argued that he isn’t getting the attempts he once did and is underutilized in Tennessee—that’s could be because he’s doing so much less with the ones he does get. His yards per carry peaked at 5.6 back in ’09, while reaching a new low at 3.9 last season.

Florio notes that nothing is imminent, but it’s clear

That being said, there’s something to say for Johnson’s consistency. He takes a lot of heat for not living up to his contract after holding out, but it was the Titans who made the mistake of overpaying him based on one season, taking a gamble by assuming it would be standard, rather than a freak occurrence.

Most running backs don’t have a single 2,000 yard season in their entire career, and none make a habit of them. Adrian Peterson, for example, has had just one. How about Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton, Curtis Martin, Marshall Faulk, Jim Brown, Tony Dorsett, Jerome Bettis and LaDainian Tomlinson? None.

Under different circumstances, Johnson would be seen more favorably, but as far as I’m concerned, he’s only guilty of two things: Over-achieving and being a shrewd businessman.

The Titans witnessed his record setting speed at the combine and then saw him do in his second season what most Hall of Famers don’t do in a career, then Johnson stepped in at the peak of his bargaining power and secured the one massive payday athletes at his position are ever likely to see.

And it’s one if they’re lucky.

The fact is, these days most years there are only 15 running backs that break the century mark in rushing. We’re seeing a lot more of running back by committee, making it increasingly difficult to attain. Very few rush for 1,000 in a given season, let alone surpassing it in six consecutive years.

Johnson’s yards per carry may have dipped just below four in 2013, but so far he’s had just as many seasons below a 4.0 average as 2,000 yard seasons—his career average is still 4.6. A number that puts him comfortably in the Top 64 all-time NFL rushers at any position.

In fact, of the Top 10 rushers in 2013, none of them has an active 1,000 game season streak nearly as long as Johnson’s, who was the No. 11 ranked running back last year. Frank Gore, Adrian Peterson and Matt Forte are the only that even come close.

Last week ProFootballTalk.com’s Michael David Smith reported that Johnson was willing to take a pay cut to facilitate a trade. Meaning that the most consistent running back in the NFL, who is just 28 years old, is currently available at a considerable discount.

It’s no surprise there’s a market for Johnson’s services. The only surprise is there are enough people are expecting him to work for below market value that he’s actually come to accept it.