So I spent a chunk of my weekend poring through NFLPA contract data, looking for the most underpaid and overpaid players at each position for an article in the upcoming PFT magazine.
When I looked at the Texans’ contracts, I wrote down Andre Johnson’s name as a candidate to make the underpaid list. $5.8 million is a lot of cash, but it’s pretty reasonable for the best receiver in football. (We’ll give him a slight edge over Larry Fitzgerald.)
It looks like Johnson and his agent (his uncle Andre Melton) agree with our underpaid assessment. The Texans receiver skipped Houston’s OTA Monday because of displeasure with his contract, according to John McClain of the Houston Chronicle.
Being underpaid and having grounds to get a new deal are not the same thing. AJ has a major problem. He has five (5!) years left on a eight year, $60 million contract he signed in 2007.
Johnson is a special player, and perhaps he’ll be afforded special consideration. But the Texans have to feel very uncomfortable with this news.