Redskins Sign Larry Johnson

[Paintrain]

Originally Posted by Defensewins

The reactions to this pick up have been all over the place.
It is still so early in the offseason. There is a good chance Larry Johnson will not even make our final roster. This draft is deep in the RB position. Even if we draft only one RB, there will be some undrafted rookies that will get signed. Plus there is the final camp cuts from other teams that always has a talented RB or two.

3 years, $12 million means he's going to be on the roster, book it. If we draft a back early (Best or Gerhart in the 2nd) then it will likely be Portis who is let go, not Johnson. Why? Shanahan already let Portis go once and that was when he was a 24 year old coming off of back to back 1500 yard seasons. Do you think he'd hesitate now?

As for the move, I am lukewarm on it. I think Johnson's got a little left in the tank and has motivation to try to regain his prior form. He's 30 but not nearly as many miles on him as Portis, LT, even Thomas Jones. How he fits into a one cut and go system remains to be seen though.

[12thMan]

Originally Posted by Paintrain

3 years, $12 million means he's going to be on the roster, book it. If we draft a back early (Best or Gerhart in the 2nd) then it will likely be Portis who is let go, not Johnson. Why? Shanahan already let Portis go once and that was when he was a 24 year old coming off of back to back 1500 yard seasons. Do you think he'd hesitate now?

As for the move, I am lukewarm on it. I think Johnson's got a little left in the tank and has motivation to try to regain his prior form. He's 30 but not nearly as many miles on him as Portis, LT, even Thomas Jones. How he fits into a one cut and go system remains to be seen though.

This is the best point yet. He doesn't have the same milage as the other 30 year old running backs. He's missed a number of games due to suspension(s) and played a limited role in Cincy last year.

Here's a snap shot of their stats over the years.


Larry Johnson

G Att Att/G Yds Avg Yds/G TD
82 1,421 17.3 6,219 4.4 75.8 55 65

Clinton Portis

G Att Att/G Yds Avg Yds/G TD
108 2,176 20.1 9,696 4.5 89.8 73 78

LaDainian Tomlinson

G Att Att/G Yds Avg Yds/G TD
141 2,880 20.4 12,490 4.3 88.6 138

[Defensewins]

Originally Posted by Paintrain

3 years, $12 million means he's going to be on the roster, book it. If we draft a back early (Best or Gerhart in the 2nd) then it will likely be Portis who is let go, not Johnson. Why? Shanahan already let Portis go once and that was when he was a 24 year old coming off of back to back 1500 yard seasons. Do you think he'd hesitate now?

As for the move, I am lukewarm on it. I think Johnson's got a little left in the tank and has motivation to try to regain his prior form. He's 30 but not nearly as many miles on him as Portis, LT, even Thomas Jones. How he fits into a one cut and go system remains to be seen though.

So they gave him the $12m up front? I did not think so. Book nothing.
Is there any guaranteed money in this deal? I would be curious to find out. Could not find any more detail on the deal other than what you said.