By JUSTIN PORRECA
Staff Writer
Houston has a problem, and resolving it will require a messy divorce from its most beloved player.
The news came last Monday night that Houston Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson requested that the organization trade or release him. The seven-time Pro Bowler and two-time first team All-Pro was the third overall draft choice in 2003 in the expansion franchise’s second draft.
The over-the-hill wide receiver had the worst season of his career in 2014. Johnson caught 85 passes, had 936 receiving yards, three touchdowns, and ranked as the NFL’s second-worst receiver ahead of Cecil Shorts in 2014.
Prior to the worst season of his career, Johnson had 104 receptions, 1,407 yards and five touchdowns in 2013 and in 2012 had 112 grabs for 1,598 yards and four touchdowns. The decline in productivity could be attributed to Houston’s inability to suit up a quality starting quarterback.
Since 2012, Johnson has caught passes from six different quarterbacks (Matt Schaub, T.J. Yates, Case Keenum, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Ryan Mallett and Tom Savage). With the lack of a quality quarterback, Johnson has still produced in large numbers.
The notion that Johnson is too old to produce in the NFL anymore could be refuted if he were given a quarterback who could consistently get him the ball. In his 11-year career, Johnson has never played with a top-tier quarterback, but that could all change this offseason.
Last Monday, head coach Bill O’Brien informed Johnson that he would be taking a reduced role in the Texans offense. In the same meeting with Johnson, O’Brien also told him to expect to catch 40 passes at most. Johnson scoffed at the idea and became irate over the fact that less talented and unproven wide receivers would be starting over him.
This led to the Texans granting Johnson permission to seek a trade or be released from his contract.
Johnson has a massive contract that could hamper any kind of trade talks between the Texans and the other 31 NFL teams. Johnson is owed $11.5 million in 2015 and $12 million in 2016. This contract makes it difficult for the Texans to ship Johnson off, especially to a contender. With bonuses included, the Texans would owe Johnson $16.1 million in 2015. However, if the Texans decided to cut Johnson before the June 1 deadline, they would save $8.83 million.
When news broke that Johnson was looking to pack up and depart Houston, the assumed front-runner to acquire Johnson’s services were the New England Patriots. With speculation that the Patriots were the top bidder in the Johnson sweepstakes, it’s highly unlikely they will be bringing in the future Hall of Famer. The Patriots are cap strapped. Despite letting Vince Wilfork walk last Thursday, saving the organization $8 million, they are still $4 million over the cap.
Despite Johnson being an appealing offensive piece, and giving Tom Brady another offensive weapon would be helpful, the Patriots have other priorities.
They have to resign one-time Pro Bowler and anchor of the secondary, Devin McCourty, and decide whether or not to pick-up Darrelle Revis’s $12 million roster bonus. If the Patriots choose to pick-up Revis’s bonus, his contract would become guaranteed as of March 9 and will take a $25 million cap hit on the Patriots’ books.
This scenario would hinder any chance of the Patriots resigning McCourty and bringing in Johnson via trade or signing him through free agency. If they were to acquire him via trade, they would have to pay him over $21.5 million over the next two seasons.
A more realistic destination for Johnson would be AFC South rival, the Indianapolis Colts. Last Friday, the Colts organization announced that they would not be re-signing long-time Colt and six-time Pro Bowler Reggie Wayne. The departure of Wayne leaves a hole in the Colts offense and at the leadership position. Acquiring Johnson would be an upgrade, offensively, from Wayne, and they would be bringing in a proven leader.
The Colts are one of the few teams in the league that would be able to take in Johnson’s massive contract via trade. They also have enough salary cap space to sign him to a contract that pays him $5 million a year. Adding Johnson would keep a veteran presence on a young roster and would give them a legitimate number one option.
T.Y. Hilton proved in 2014 he is up and coming, but when he went one-on-one with top-tier cornerbacks, he was locked down. Johnson would take some of the attention off of T.Y. Hilton, and he would be a good role model for the Colts young wide receiver corps.
Besides the Patriots and Colts, who have emerged as the two favorite landing spots for Johnson, there are some other favorable potential landing spots. The Miami Dolphins are in wide receiver limbo right now. Despite being slightly cap-strapped and wanting to throw $60 million guaranteed at free-agent defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, they desperately need wide receivers. Johnson is a Miami boy, and Miami needs a legitimate number-one wide receiver and another weapon for their young quarterback, Ryan Tannehill.
The Cincinnati Bengals are another potential landing spot. The Bengals have the salary cap space to acquire Johnson via trade or sign him through free agency. The Bengals have only one buyable option at wide receiver, A.J. Green. Mohamed Sanu and Marvin Jones are not number two wide receivers, nor enough of a threat to take attention off of Green. Bringing in a wide receiver of Johnson’s caliber would take some attention off of Green and give Dalton a much-needed second weapon.
Johnson’s status with the Texans is still in limbo, and his outright demand to be released or traded has the 31 other NFL organizations on alert. With free agency starting today at 4 p.m., expect the Texans to make a decision before it’s too late.
