The Titans did the expected on Friday and released running back Chris Johnson ahead of the start of their offseason work on Monday.
General Manager Ruston Webster was a guest on The Midday 180 on 104.5 The Zone on Friday afternoon and discussed how things led to that resolution. Webster said that they made the move now in order to have players “who’ll be here for the future” report for work on Monday and that there were times that he thought a trade would get done. It didn’t and Webster said he didn’t know if talks with Johnson ever got to the point of discussing a pay cut that would have kept him on the team.
“There’s some sense of relief that we’re done with it, we’re moving forward and I’m sure it’s like that for [Johnson],” Webster said.
Webster also said he thinks Johnson has some good years left in front of him, but his bigger issue now is finding a running back to have some good years in Tennessee. Webster said the team will “definitely” be looking at running backs in the draft, although he subscribes to the conventional wisdom that there’s no superstar runners in this year’s draft class. Webster likes the depth at the position, though, and is confident that they can find someone to add to Shonn Greene, Jackie Battle and Dexter McCluster come May.