Titans G.M. Mike Reinfeldt and running Chris Johnson played P.R. ping-pong on Thursday, with Reinfeldt contending that the Titans are willing to make Johnson the highest-paid running back in the league and Johnson claiming that he has never received an offer from the team.
Reinfeldt took to the radio waves Friday to talk in further detail about the team’s position. Appearing on 104.5 the Zone in Nashville (via MusicCityMiracles.com), Reinfeldt admitted that the two sides agree on something.
No offer has been made, yet.
“I think that’s accurate,” Reinfeldt said. “We have kind of set the parameters of what the deal is going to be. We know it is going to be about this much guaranteed, and we know it is going to be about this much average. Have we written down a specific offer on a piece of paper and given it to him? No. We would like to have him come down here to the Titans facility and work on it.”
And that’s where the team’s logic becomes confusing. They won’t negotiate until he reports, but at the same time they are willing to let him not practice or play until the deal is done.
“He’s still got two years left on his deal, and if we are willing to commit those types of dollars it would be a show of good faith,” Reinfeldt said. “We are not asking him to go on the practice field. He’s not going to get put in harm’s way, but he needs to be here to meet the coaches, the new players and learn the offense. That is part of what we are trying to accomplish here.”
Why not just negotiate the deal? If the ultimate goal is to get him to practice and play, and if he won’t be practicing or playing until the deal is negotiated, why not dothe deal regardless of whether he’s there?
Presumably, the team is counting on the reality that, if Johnson is in meetings and otherwise around the team, he’ll want to play, and so he’ll be less inclined to dig in and get the best deal possible.
The real problem arises from the fact that the two sides are still speaking two different languages regarding Johnson’s value. The Titans want to base his pay on the running back market, and Johnson wants to focus more broadly on impact players regardless of position. “There are four to five guys that you look at the guaranteed money and the yearly payouts,” Reinfeldt said. “You can kind of get the benchmark from those types of parameters and there you go.”
For the Titans, those four to five guys presumably are running backs. For Johnson, those four to five guys presumably are quarterbacks and/or defensive ends and/or other guys who make a lot more money than the top running backs.
Reinfeldt avoided addressing whether that’s the heart of the problem, saying "[t]hat is a better question for them quite honestly.”
It’s not. It’s a question -- and a problem -- for both sides. Until the player and the team agree on the basis for the benchmarks and parameters, it’ll be impossible to work this out.