Derrick Johnson won’t play for the Chiefs in 2018, but he hopes to play for somebody.
The linebacker told Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star that he expects to continue his playing career in hopes of earning a Super Bowl ring.
Johnson, 35, will move on after 13 seasons in Kansas City, becoming a free agent next month. He knew that was a possibility when he restructured his contract a year ago, voiding the third year of the deal.
“In order for me to come back with the Chiefs, we’d have to work on a deal or do something for a one-year type of deal,” Johnson said, via Paylor. “But the Chiefs, they wanted to go younger across the board — that’s what [General Manager Brett] Veach was talking about. I wasn’t in their plans, and I understood that. They’ve got some cap issues, and even though I would have bended some to be a Chief, there really was no negotiation. I just wasn’t in the plans, and that happens. It is what it is.”