Larry Johnson freeagent in 08

[camelcowboy]

www.profootballtalk.com (http://www.profootballtalk.com) according the Adam Schefter




L.J. SCHEDULED FOR 2008 FREE AGENCY
Adam Schefter of NFL Network explains that Chiefs running back Larry Johnson's performance since entering the league in 2003 has allowed him to void the final two years of his rookie deal. As a result, he'll be a free agent in 2008.
Unless, of course, the Chiefs sign him to a long-term deal. Or apply the franchise tag to him next February.
The possibility that Johnson could be gone by next year at this time could be the reason for the team's decision to bring in tailbacks who are part of this year's draft class.
Though Schefter says that it doesn't appear that Johnson is on the trading block, a media source with knowledge of the dynamics in the K.C. front office firmly believes that the team is floating the notion that they are willing to move Johnson.
Hey, why don't the Bills offer the No. 12 overall pick straight up for Johnson? Then, the Chiefs can send the No. 23 pick and the No. 12 pick to Washington, if Adrian Peterson is still on the board at No. 6. Heck, under the trade chart the Cheifs could climb as high as No. 4, where they'd be certain to nail down Adrian Peterson.
Yet again, we've identified a scenario that makes way too much sense to ever happen.

Only reason why i post this "besides the fact it really comes from schefter" is the idea maybe if theres smoke there may be a fire. I knew LJ was close to freeagency but i didn't realize it was going to be next year. That being said i doubt they trade him.

[BILLSROCK1212]

dont be surprised if he is traded this weekend and definetly don't be surprised if the Bills are the team that gets him

[Slim]

dont be surprised if he is traded this weekend and definetly don't be surprised if the Bills are the team that gets him

.. not gonna happen.ever.

[BILLSROCK1212]

.. not gonna happen.ever.i agree it probably won't but hey who would've ever thought 3/4 of the things that have happened in our world would happen other than Nostradamus

[Slim]

i agree it probably won't but hey who would've ever thought 3/4 of the things that have happened in our world would happen other than Nostradamus

LJ is going to get a big pay day from KC next year. KC is nothing without him, they will be more than willing to give him the money he needs. And they can franchise him and trade him next year if they need to(which they won't).

[Michael82]

dont be surprised if he is traded this weekend and definetly don't be surprised if the Bills are the team that gets him
:pray: :pray: :pray:


I will bow down and kiss Marv's feet if he gets LJ here! :drool:

[Carlton Bailey]

dont be surprised if he is traded this weekend and definetly don't be surprised if the Bills are the team that gets him

On the contrary, I would be extremely surprised at either.

[dolphan117]

I just don't see how this makes any sense. You get rid of a proven pro-bowl level back who is still very young and create a need where there was none before. I mean lets say they did trade him to you guys for the 12th pick and then packaged it with their other first to move up and grab AP.... Would they be any better off? Instead of having a first rounder to use on other needs they used it to draft a RB high in the first along with the salary that a top 5 pick demands.

Just makes no sense to me, unless Johnson is a serious malcontent and they just want to get rid of him. I know he was unhappy under Vermiel because he hated being Priest's backup but now that he is the guy I thought he was happy.

*And why in the world would a GM put escalators in a rookie contract that allows them to void the final 2 years of their deal? The great thing about rookies is that they can be serious young talent that is locked up for 5 to 6 years for very cheap money... Why in the world would you draft a guy in the 1st and then say "Right, so if you do indeed turn out to be really, really, good we will let you bail early, as you know like a thank you or something." No way they should set up a deal like that, if the dude is that good you want him on as long a contract as possible, wait until the he has one year left, and lock him up long term. No way should you give him a loophole to void the final years of his contract and become a FA. Just dumb.

[camelcowboy]

I just don't see how this makes any sense. You get rid of a proven pro-bowl level back who is still very young and create a need where there was none before. I mean lets say they did trade him to you guys for the 12th pick and then packaged it with their other first to move up and grab AP.... Would they be any better off? Instead of having a first rounder to use on other needs they used it to draft a RB high in the first along with the salary that a top 5 pick demands.

Just makes no sense to me, unless Johnson is a serious malcontent and they just want to get rid of him. I know he was unhappy under Vermiel because he hated being Priest's backup but now that he is the guy I thought he was happy.

*And why in the world would a GM put escalators in a rookie contract that allows them to void the final 2 years of their deal? The great thing about rookies is that they can be serious young talent that is locked up for 5 to 6 years for very cheap money... Why in the world would you draft a guy in the 1st and then say "Right, so if you do indeed turn out to be really, really, good we will let you bail early, as you know like a thank you or something." No way they should set up a deal like that, if the dude is that good you want him on as long a contract as possible, wait until the he has one year left, and lock him up long term. No way should you give him a loophole to void the final years of his contract and become a FA. Just dumb. The team is on its way down. They will most likely be starting a rookie at QB next year. Corners like Ty Law and Surtain are about 150 years old. The only player on they're offense i can name off the top of my head thats under 30 is LJ and he's 27. The chiefs may be close to rebuilding and if that happens on average it takes 3-5 years. LJ will be in his 30's and for a running back thats dangerously close to twilight. Honestly if the chiefs go the way its sounds. Trading Hall, Shields retired, starting Coyle at QB then they might as well trade LJ now and get what they can for him.

[boobynugget]

I'm a Chiefs fan and stumbled upon this board during free agency and have read it regularly ever since. I have a few thoughts on LJ that I'd like to share...

I like LJ as much as the next guy as a RB, he is a great player who runs with attitude and a huge chip on his shoulder, but he says stupid stuff to the media and his "poor me" act wears thin on the blue collar KC fans, but gets tolerated as long as he is scoring TDs. I'm sure Buffalo is very similar to KC in that the fans expect the players to represent them with their hard work on the field and not comment about the fan base and how they can't relate to them.

I'll give you a brief story to show how much some Chiefs fans I know (1 is a season ticket holder) thought of him a few years ago...I am in a 10 team keeper/salary cap league, I drafted Priest 1.01 in the initial draft when he was coming off his first huge year and he led my team to big starts for a couple of year before getting hurt in back to back years...I believe in the 2004 season, when Priest hurt his knee against Tampa about mid-season and LJ started to get some carries and eventually became the guy, he was on the waiver wire for $1. Nobody wanted him because he wasn't even dressing out for the games. Against the Falcons that year, Priest has 4 TDs in the first half and Blaylock got 4 TDs in the 2nd half, LJ was nowhere to be found. In a league with 9 KC fans and 1 STL fan, nobody would pay $1 for LJ because of roster limits...now everybody would sell their kidneys to get him on their team.

I have a friend that thinks we should pay him whatever he wants to keep him around because he is a stud RB, but I disagree, I think they should trade him to Cleveland for their 1st and 2nd picks this year. We could draft Peterson at 1.03, take a OL or DL at 1.23, come back and take a WR and DB in the 2nd and then finish out the draft with BPA. A. Peterson has played many times at Arrowhead and the Oklahoma fanbase is just a few hours away, so it isn't like you are going to lose fans by bringing in a Big 12 guy and with the holes they need to fill, why not get rid of LJ before he turns theteam into a Eagles/TO drama?

Another idea would be to go after Joe Thomas early in the draft, take another OL like Khalil or Grubbs at 1.23 and then take a WR & RB (Pittman, Irons, Bush, etc...) in the 2nd.

Either way, if we are looking long term, we need to dump LJ unless we think we can win within the next 2 years, which is highly unlikley, or we'll be trying to fill these same holes without a big bargaining chip in 2009/2010 and at the same time paying him a huge salary.

[camelcowboy]

I'm a Chiefs fan and stumbled upon this board during free agency and have read it regularly ever since. I have a few thoughts on LJ that I'd like to share...

I like LJ as much as the next guy as a RB, he is a great player who runs with attitude and a huge chip on his shoulder, but he says stupid stuff to the media and his "poor me" act wears thin on the blue collar KC fans, but gets tolerated as long as he is scoring TDs. I'm sure Buffalo is very similar to KC in that the fans expect the players to represent them with their hard work on the field and not comment about the fan base and how they can't relate to them.

I'll give you a brief story to show how much some Chiefs fans I know (1 is a season ticket holder) thought of him a few years ago...I am in a 10 team keeper/salary cap league, I drafted Priest 1.01 in the initial draft when he was coming off his first huge year and he led my team to big starts for a couple of year before getting hurt in back to back years...I believe in the 2004 season, when Priest hurt his knee against Tampa about mid-season and LJ started to get some carries and eventually became the guy, he was on the waiver wire for $1. Nobody wanted him because he wasn't even dressing out for the games. Against the Falcons that year, Priest has 4 TDs in the first half and Blaylock got 4 TDs in the 2nd half, LJ was nowhere to be found. In a league with 9 KC fans and 1 STL fan, nobody would pay $1 for LJ because of roster limits...now everybody would sell their kidneys to get him on their team.

I have a friend that thinks we should pay him whatever he wants to keep him around because he is a stud RB, but I disagree, I think they should trade him to Cleveland for their 1st and 2nd picks this year. We could draft Peterson at 1.03, take a OL or DL at 1.23, come back and take a WR and DB in the 2nd and then finish out the draft with BPA. A. Peterson has played many times at Arrowhead and the Oklahoma fanbase is just a few hours away, so it isn't like you are going to lose fans by bringing in a Big 12 guy and with the holes they need to fill, why not get rid of LJ before he turns theteam into a Eagles/TO drama?

Another idea would be to go after Joe Thomas early in the draft, take another OL like Khalil or Grubbs at 1.23 and then take a WR & RB (Pittman, Irons, Bush, etc...) in the 2nd.

Either way, if we are looking long term, we need to dump LJ unless we think we can win within the next 2 years, which is highly unlikley, or we'll be trying to fill these same holes without a big bargaining chip in 2009/2010 and at the same time paying him a huge salary. Thanks for your insight welcome to the board, its great having other fans prespectives.

[Michael82]

I'm a Chiefs fan and stumbled upon this board during free agency and have read it regularly ever since. I have a few thoughts on LJ that I'd like to share...

I like LJ as much as the next guy as a RB, he is a great player who runs with attitude and a huge chip on his shoulder, but he says stupid stuff to the media and his "poor me" act wears thin on the blue collar KC fans, but gets tolerated as long as he is scoring TDs. I'm sure Buffalo is very similar to KC in that the fans expect the players to represent them with their hard work on the field and not comment about the fan base and how they can't relate to them.

I'll give you a brief story to show how much some Chiefs fans I know (1 is a season ticket holder) thought of him a few years ago...I am in a 10 team keeper/salary cap league, I drafted Priest 1.01 in the initial draft when he was coming off his first huge year and he led my team to big starts for a couple of year before getting hurt in back to back years...I believe in the 2004 season, when Priest hurt his knee against Tampa about mid-season and LJ started to get some carries and eventually became the guy, he was on the waiver wire for $1. Nobody wanted him because he wasn't even dressing out for the games. Against the Falcons that year, Priest has 4 TDs in the first half and Blaylock got 4 TDs in the 2nd half, LJ was nowhere to be found. In a league with 9 KC fans and 1 STL fan, nobody would pay $1 for LJ because of roster limits...now everybody would sell their kidneys to get him on their team.

I have a friend that thinks we should pay him whatever he wants to keep him around because he is a stud RB, but I disagree, I think they should trade him to Cleveland for their 1st and 2nd picks this year. We could draft Peterson at 1.03, take a OL or DL at 1.23, come back and take a WR and DB in the 2nd and then finish out the draft with BPA. A. Peterson has played many times at Arrowhead and the Oklahoma fanbase is just a few hours away, so it isn't like you are going to lose fans by bringing in a Big 12 guy and with the holes they need to fill, why not get rid of LJ before he turns theteam into a Eagles/TO drama?

Another idea would be to go after Joe Thomas early in the draft, take another OL like Khalil or Grubbs at 1.23 and then take a WR & RB (Pittman, Irons, Bush, etc...) in the 2nd.

Either way, if we are looking long term, we need to dump LJ unless we think we can win within the next 2 years, which is highly unlikley, or we'll be trying to fill these same holes without a big bargaining chip in 2009/2010 and at the same time paying him a huge salary.
Excellent post! Thanks for sharing and Welcome to BillsZone! :up:

[Saratoga Slim]

Larry Johnson is going to say crap that makes us think fondly of Willis. I want this organization to be like the Pats or the Colts, where they have superstars galore but you never hear a peep out of anybody. So in one sense, I'd almost rather trade up for AP cause it'd probably cost the same in draft picks and cost less in salary compensation.

But on the other hand, LJ is indiputably a top 3 RB, and has proven himself effective without a passing game and with a diminishing line. his squacking would be fairly tolerable if he's giving us 1800 yards and 20 touchdowns. He'd be real hard to turn down.

that's the last mental energy I'm going to invest in LJ. Turner is unlikely enough, I'm going to spend my wishes on that.

[Bill Brasky]

i agree it probably won't but hey who would've ever thought 3/4 of the things that have happened in our world would happen other than Nostradamus

:rofl: touche.....