Larry Johnson ends holdout, agrees to contract extension

[Dodgers2213]

The Chiefs were in the middle of another routine workout Tuesday when their practice was energized by a familiar figure wearing No. 27 running on the field and then joining their offensive huddle.

Larry Johnson took a swing pass down the field, and everything seemed at that moment as if his 25-day holdout never happened.

“He sure has some fresh legs, I’ll tell you that,” quarterback Damon Huard said. “He looked good on a couple of plays he had the rock in his hand.”

Johnson ended his holdout Tuesday morning when he and the Chiefs agreed to a five-year contract extension that locks him up through 2012, including the year he had left on his original contract.

A source familiar with the contract said it would pay Johnson $45 million over the six years and $43.2 million over the five-year extension. Based on the extension, his average salary per season makes him the highest-paid running back in NFL history.

Johnson is guaranteed $19 million in a worst-case scenario. He would receive $27.7 million in the first three years of the extension.

Johnson declined to comment until today. His agent, Alvin Keels, put Johnson’s take in perspective.

“Larry is happy,” Keels said. “The focus is back on football again.”

From the Chiefs’ perspective, the timing of the deal was about as good as it gets. They would have preferred that Johnson be in camp a couple of days earlier so he could have played some in Thursday night’s preseason game against New Orleans at Arrowhead Stadium.

More important to them, though, was the fact they saved more than three weeks of wear and tear on Johnson’s legs. They also believe Johnson will be ready for his full role in the Sept. 9 regular-season opener against the Texans in Houston.

“He’s going to run the ball,” coach Herm Edwards said. “He’s not going to run it 50 times. He won’t run it 40 times. He won’t get close to that number anymore.

“By no stretch of the imagination will he play this Thursday. He’ll be standing by me for the most part. It’s important he gets his legs up underneath him before we open up down in Houston. He’ll have enough time to do that. I think it will take him two weeks. He’s been working out. It’s not like he’s been sitting around.”

The sides became eager to get the deal done last week. They narrowed their once-considerable differences to something manageable but were stuck on the final terms.

The final impetus for the deal came Monday night when Johnson called Chiefs president/general manager Carl Peterson. The two later met in person, with Johnson expressing his desire to reach an agreement.

The contract details were finished Tuesday morning. Johnson rushed to Arrowhead for his physical, then signed the contract and arrived at practice about midway through.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a guy sign his contract that fast,” Peterson said. “He wanted to get out here today and get going.

“If he was out beyond the third (preseason) game, that’s when I start becoming concerned about veterans. It won’t take him long to get up to speed. One conditioning you can’t duplicate is conditioning with your pads on, being hit and hitting people. There’s a soreness aspect you’ve got to go through. He needs to do that. He expressed to me last night that he knew that and he didn’t want to waste any more time sitting out.”

The Chiefs fined Johnson about $14,000 per day while he was holding out. Peterson indicated the fine, which for 25 days would run about $350,000, would stand.

Johnson’s return will provide a boost to an offense struggling to move the ball and score points. The Chiefs have only one offensive touchdown in two preseason games.

“The quarterback’s best friend is a great running game,” Huard said. “Certainly with (Johnson) back there, defenses are really going to worry about him.

“Having Larry back is huge for us.”

Johnson’s return most affects the Chiefs’ other running backs. Michael Bennett becomes the primary backup, and Edwards has pledged that Bennett would play more than he did last season.

The Chiefs also like rookie Kolby Smith, their fifth-round draft pick.

That leaves Priest Holmes, who again didn’t practice Tuesday. Unless the Chiefs do something unorthodox, like keep four running backs, the Chiefs appear to have no roster room for Holmes.

Their other options for Holmes are to release him or keep him on the physically unable to perform list, which means he couldn’t play in the season’s first six games.

Asked whether the Chiefs would release Holmes if it came to that, Peterson said, “Priest has to make this football team on his merits. He accumulated some merits over the years.

“If Priest is with us, it will not be in the same capacity as before. I think and Herm thinks he could be a marvelous situational running back. That’s short-yardage, goal-line, screens and draws. He’s not going to carry it or touch it as much as when he was with us (before).”
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[Glen Quagmire]

I had a chance to take him on my FL but opted for Alexander.

[DarthRekal]

ALexander should have a nice comeback year... specially since he's not on the madden cover
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Get Well Soon Father SOAD. We Love You!
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