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The Houston Texans didn't do much to upgrade their anemic offense this offseason, and that may lead to their best player leaving them. Disgruntled wide receiver Andre Johnson made it obvious he was less than pleased with Houston after they traded away his good buddy, Matt Schaub, and didn't do anything to bring in a better replacement.
Schaub clearly had his struggles last year, but he's a better option than Ryan Fitzpatrick, Case Keenum and Tom Savage. Those are the three QBs currently on the Texans' roster.
According to NFL.com's Ian Rapaport, Johnson has told Houston he wants out.
Before OTAs and minicamp, star wide receiver Andre Johnson told the Houston Texans he had heard enough from the new staff and coach Bill O'Brien to make him want to show up and join the team. He told them of his plans to be there for offseason workouts, despite missing the early portion of it. The question revolved around his $1 million bonus for attending workouts.
Though Johnson had missed some of the sessions, he wanted to earn his money back by working out extra, allowing him to receive the money.
The Texans told him no, per two sources informed of the situation.
That furthered the divide between Johnson and the Texans, driving a wedge between the parties. That caused Johnson to tell them he wanted to play for another team. He is now working out, "not thinking about the Texans," a source said.
Rapaport added that the Texans have resisted Johnson's request for a trade so far, but reportedly four teams have shown interest in him.
Pure speculation: I would say the Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, Minnesota Vikings, Baltimore Ravens and Carolina Panthers could be among those, though there's been nothing definitive to suggest who those four teams really are.
Johnson was also asked in an interview on NFL Network if he’ll be in a Texans uniform for Week 1, and his response wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement
"I just choose not to talk publicly about it," Johnson said. "It’s in-house and that’s the way I choose to keep it. I’m not a big media guy, so I won’t — you know, I refuse to talk about it. Training camp’s a few weeks away, so we’ll see what happens."
The big thing that will hold up a trade is Johnson's contract, combined with the fact he's turning 33. Here's a look at his contract, courtesy of Spotrac:
YEAR |
BASE |
SIGNING BONUS |
ROSTER BONUS |
OPTION BONUS |
WORKOUT BONUS |
RESTRUC. BONUS |
INCENTIVE |
CAP HIT |
DEAD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 7,182,500 | 2,611,335 | 1,083,333 | - | - | - | - | 10,877,168 | 15,214,754 |
| 2011 | 1,300,000 | 2,611,335 | 1,083,333 | - | - | 1,500,000 | - | 6,494,668 | 16,603,419 |
| 2012 | 1,000,000 | 2,611,335 | 1,083,333 | 200,000 | - | 2,600,000 | - | 7,494,668 | 17,692,084 |
| 2013 | 5,000,000 | 469,583 | 1,083,333 | 200,000 | - | 5,058,335 | - | 11,811,251 | 11,392,084 |
| 2014 | 10,000,000 | 469,583 | - | 200,000 | - | 3,975,000 | - | 14,644,583 | 11,964,166 |
| 2015 | 10,500,000 | 469,583 | 1,000,000 | 200,000 | - | 3,975,000 | - | 16,144,583 | 7,319,583 |
| 2016 | 11,000,000 | - | 1,000,000 | 200,000 | - | 2,475,000 | - | 14,675,000 | 2,675,000 |
It's going to be hard for any team to bring that in, given Johnson's age.