Cardinals RB David Johnson Holding Out Of Minicamp

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that Cardinals RB David Johnson is holding out of mandatory minicamp this week, which gets underway on Tuesday.

Schefter says that Johnson and the Cardinals have been in discussions regarding a new contract and are hopeful a new deal will be reached before the start of the season.

Last week, Mike Garafolo of NFL Media mentioned that he thinks the Cardinals and Johnson will negotiate a contract extension before the start of the 2018 season.

“I don’t see any way he plays just for that,” Garafolo said Johnson playing out the season for just the $1.88 million he’s set to make. “I truly believe that the Cardinals and David Johnson at some point will negotiate a contract extension before the season.

“You’re talking about a guy who believes that he can go 1,000 yards receiving, 1,000 yards rushing; ain’t a shot he’s going to play for $1.9 million. I do know that he and his camp have started to think about, ‘What’s our number? What do we want to get to?’ And the Cardinals, frankly, know that if a guy winds up putting up 1,000-1,000, and then he’s slated for free agency, now you’re talking that franchise tag game. So, there is incentive for them to do the deal ahead of the season as well.”

Johnson missed nearly the entire 2018 season, due to a wrist injury, so this is clearly a big season for him as he’s in line to be an unrestricted free agent next year.

Johnson, 26, was taken in the third round of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Cardinals. He’s currently in the final year of his four-year, $2.992 million contract and stands to make a base salary of $705,000 for the 2018 season.

In 2017, Johnson appeared in one game and rushed for 23 yards on 11 carries to go along with six receptions for 67 yards receiving.

We have him featured in our Top 25 – 2019 NFL Free Agents list.