A couple of weeks ago, former Packers linebacker George Koonce hinted on his way out of a front office job with the team that the Pack could be making a significant acquisition on offense.
The player in question could be Chiefs running back Larry Johnson.
WTMJ in Milwaukee reports that the Packers are "keeping a very close eye" on Johnson's situation. With one year remaining on his Kansas City contract, at a salary of $1.7 million, Johnson has made it clear that he wants a new contract before he endures another 400-carry season. The Chiefs discreetly dangled their Johnson (we couldn't resist) prior to the draft, but found no takers. The problem is that anyone who wants L.J. will have to satisfy his contractual demands, and bow to the trade expectations of G.M. Carl Peterson. We think that, at a minimum, it'll take $25 million in guaranteed money to make Johnson happy, and a first-round pick and a third-round pick to get the Chiefs to bite.
If Johnson was worth that kind of a total investment, the Chiefs would be making it.
The reality here is that Johnson already has a lot of miles on the tires, and that it's still unclear whether Johnson is a truly great running back. Also, the fact that he carries the ball a lot puts him at greater risk of the kind of injury that would make the investment in his services look foolish in hindsight.
Absent a trade, there could be a nasty and protracted holdout. Johnson and Peterson have heads of solid rock, and we could envision both sides digging in, even if it's in no one's best interests to do so.
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07-12-2007, 03:49 PM
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