Cardinals

Cardinals GM: “Cutting David Johnson Is Not An Option”

February 14, 2020

On Friday, Cardinals GM Steve Keim said in an interview with Arizona Sports 98.7 that releasing RB David Johnson is “not an option” this offseason, per Darren Urban.

“Cutting him is not an option,” Keim said. “Not only the cap hit, but you’re still paying him the cash as well, and it wouldn’t be responsible for me or the organization for me to do that.”

According to Keim, Johnson could still have a “significant role” even if he isn’t the team’s starter in 2020.

“If David Johnson isn’t the starter, he still has a significant role,” Keim said. “He still creates big-time mismatches in the passing game, he still brings kick return ability. There are a number of things, and you can’t just have one back. You have to have a platoon of backs. We’ve seen that. So there are enough carries to go around.

“I still have a lot of faith in David. He’s got tremendous skills, he’s a great person, he works extremely hard. I think it was one of those things, if you look at the big picture, Chase (Edmonds) got hurt, David got hurt, we made the trade (for Drake), and Kenyan Drake came in and he got the hot hand.”

Johnson hasn’t come close to living up to his contract and was clearly supplanted by Kenyon Drake last year.

However, Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk recently explained that Johnson’s $10.2 million salary for 2020 is already fully guaranteed due to a provision in his contract that locked in the guarantees a year early.

Florio mentions that the Cardinals are essentially stuck with Johnson, considering that he has no reason to agree to a structured contract that would amount to a pay cut.

There’s still a chance Arizona could attempt to trade Johnson in the coming months, but it remains to be seen whether anyone will be willing to take on his contract.

Johnson, 28, was taken in the third round of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Cardinals. He was entering the final year of his four-year, $2.992 million contract when he agreed to a three-year, $39 million extension worth up to $45 million.

Johnson stands to make base salaries of $10,200,000 and $7,950,000 over the final two years of the deal.

In 2019, Johnson appeared in 13 games for the Cardinals and rushed 345 yards on 94 carries (3.7 YPC) to go along with 36 receptions for 370 yards receiving and six total touchdowns.