The Kansas City Chiefs announced Saturday that they’ve placed ILB Derrick Johnson on injured reserve and promoted DL David King to their active roster.
Adam Schefter recently reported that Johnson plans to return to the team next year, despite suffering a ruptured left Achilles tendon last Thursday night.
This came just two years after Johnson tore his right Achilles. However, a source tells Schefter that Johnson isn’t considering retirement at all and plans to play again.
“I wouldn’t bet against him ever,” said a source close to the situation. “Everyone did two years ago and I would expect to see him back out there again. He’s not even thinking about [retiring]. All he’s thinking about is getting back out there.”
According to Schefter, Johnson had played the past few weeks with a sore left Achilles that had been affecting him in practice and during games. Unfortunately, the ligament gave out in the win over the Raiders and will cost him the remainder of the season.
Johnson, 34, is a former first-round pick of the Chiefs back in 2005. He’s currently in the first year of his three-year, $21 million contract that includes $9.75 million guaranteed and stands to make base salaries of $1.5 million and $4.75 million over the next two years.
In 2016, Johnson appeared in 13 games and recorded 90 tackles, one sack, an interception returned for a touchdown and three pass defenses. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 21 linebacker out of 89 qualifying players.
King, 26, is a former seventh-round pick of the Eagles back in 2013. He lasted just a few months in Philadelphia before he was waived at the start of the 2013 season. After brief stints with the Bengals and Seahawks, the Chiefs claimed him off of waivers back in November of last year and later brought him back on an exclusive rights contract.
King was unable to make the 53-man roster coming out of the preseason but was later signed to their practice squad and eventually promoted to the active roster. The Chiefs elected to cut him loose shortly after and re-signed him to their practice squad once he cleared waivers.
In 2016, King has been active for one game but has yet to record a statistic.
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