Consider trading him
No one asked me, but just in case Carl Peterson and Clark Hunt would like to know where I stand: I’d consider trading Larry Johnson rather than handing him a lucrative contract extension.
Seriously. Oh, I respect what Larry Johnson has accomplished the last two years, back-to-back 1,700-yard seasons, consecutive Pro Bowl appearances and 37 touchdowns.
Larry is owed big money. He’s earned it. You could make a pretty strong argument he’s the NFL’s second-best running back after LaDainian Tomlinson.
I just wouldn’t be in a rush to be the general manager or owner who gave L.T.-type money to L.J. And I sure as heck wouldn’t want to be the coach forced to deal with L.J.’s T.O.-like behavior, especially after that behavior gets protected with close to $20 million in guaranteed bonuses.
The Chiefs have a big decision to make this offseason, and there’s no reason we should act as if reworking Larry’s contract way north is a no-brainer. It’s not.
Larry is far from the most popular player in the Chiefs’ locker room with the players. He’s aloof, moody and constantly distracted by his desire to be misunderstood and to be a member of Jay-Z’s posse.
“If they give him a huge contract, they’ll create a monster,” one Chiefs player told me this offseason. “And I told Herm that.”
Johnson, according to another teammate, can be a disruptive force in locker-room chemistry. The team’s most valuable and important player, according to a teammate, oftentimes sits in meetings text messaging friends and associates.
We all know Larry loves to make headlines with tell-all interviews. He went on HBO this season and claimed that it was easier for him to play for a black head coach because Herm Edwards knows what it’s like to, among other things, go to nightclubs in the ’hood.
Larry also finds it easier, I assume, to question the offensive strategy of a black head coach who bends over backward trying to satisfy the ego of his star running back, because L.J. had little trouble throwing Edwards and the coaching staff under the bus after Kansas City’s playoff loss.
Three years ago, when the Chargers made Tomlinson the richest running back in the history of the league with a $60 million contract and $20 million in guaranteed bonuses, here’s what the Chargers’ team president was quoted saying about L.T.:
“LaDainian represents everything you want from a player. He is our role model. Every young player should aspire to be like L.T., the way he carries himself on and off the field. He has demonstrated he can do and will do what it takes to be a winner and to be the best.”
Could Carl Peterson say that about L.J. with a straight face?
No way. (FYI: I attempted to contact Peterson and Edwards on Wednesday. They were both legitimately unavailable. Peterson, I was told, was out of town. Edwards, I was told, spent most of Wednesday in meetings with the scouting department.)
But the reasons to consider trading L.J. go deeper than just the quirks in his personality, deeper than the possibility that he might be the next T.O. or Randy Moss.
Johnson carried the ball an NFL-record 416 times last year. In the history of the league, nine running backs have accumulated 390-plus carries in a season. Only one, Eric ****erson, continued to ascend after toting the rock that many times. Everyone else faded quickly.
Is L.J. the next Eric ****erson, a terrific player and locker-room cancer with the Rams, Colts, Raiders and Falcons?
Or is L.J. the next Eddie George, Jamal Anderson, Terrell Davis or James Wilder?
The one thing I really respect about Johnson is his brutal honesty. He doesn’t hide who he wants to be. As soon as the season was over, he high-tailed it to New York to get to work on whatever it is he wants to do with rapper Jay-Z.
I mean, really, there were two certainties when this season ended: Tiki Barber would begin his career as a broadcaster, and Larry Johnson would be in New York working on his street cred and Roc-A-Fella hand signals.
In pursuit of a new contract, some athletes wouldn’t be nearly as truthful as L.J. They would sneak off to New York while telling everyone about their elaborate plans to rest up and begin a new training regime with their own specialist, Bay Bay McWorkout. They might even invite a television crew to tape them while they push a mobile home on a giant treadmill.
L.J. is going to skip the publicity tour. He believes he has all the leverage he needs. Tony Gonzalez will be 31 in a couple of weeks. Trent Green is still woozy. Dante Hall has fallen and can’t get up. Jared Allen is headed to jail.
L.J. is Kansas City’s lone, unblemished, in-his-prime star. Herm Edwards’ whole plan of attack falls apart without a punishing running back.
The Chiefs have to pay Larry Johnson.
No they don’t. Not if another team is willing to offer something resembling fair value (a top-12 draft pick and a defensive starter or wide receiver). You can find and develop young running backs quickly.
Finding, developing and maintaining a Super Bowl-level chemistry is a lot more elusive, especially when you have a potential T.O. or Randy Moss in your locker room.
I’m not saying the Chiefs should trade Larry Johnson. I’m saying they should consider doing it.
