Browns GM Ray Farmer told reporters on Wednesday that, despite their need for help at receiver, they have not reached out to the Texans about WR Andre Johnson‘s availability.
“He’s my age,” said Farmer, via the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “He’s 33. The question is, when do you hit the wall? You never know where the wall is until you hit it. Do you ride them all the way to the wall? Or do you give them up a year in front of the wall?”
However, Farmer wouldn’t completely rule out the idea of trading for a receiver at some point.
“Why not?” Farmer said. “I’m open to every avenue. We’re going to unearth every guy that’s available.”
Meanwhile, Ian Rapoport reports that Texans GM Rick Smith and HC Bill O’Brien have been trying to “ease [Johnson’s] concerns” with the team and get him to report to mandatory minicamp.
According to Rapoport, the Texans can’t trade him anyways given that they would take an $11 million cap hit, and in the end, they would prefer to keep him.
His salary ultimately limits the number of teams that could actually afford to take on his contract. Most of the teams with a lot of space are currently in the rebuilding process while only a few contenders could make such a move.
As of now, the Bengals, Eagles, Packers , and Colts as the only teams who could currently take on his contract and possibly give him a chance to compete for a title, but most of them have already address the receiver position.
Johnson, 32, still has three years remaining on his seven-year, $62.7 million contract. He’s set to make $6.5 million for the 2014 season before his base salary increases to $10.5 million in 2015.
In 2013, Johnson caught 109 passes for 1,407 yards receiving and five touchdowns.
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