It’s that time of year.
Extensions are getting worked out. Disgruntled players are becoming gruntled. It’s about time that the only holdout in the league comes to terms, and there are increasing signs that could happen in the next week.
NFL Network’s Michael Lombardi said Tuesday night that the Titans are “ready to make an offer” that would get Chris Johnson under contract.
“They’ve opened up the bank vault. . . . . It looks like they’re going to pay him,” Lombardi said Tuesday night, indicating a potential deal is possible by the end of the weekend.
Lombardi’s cohort Jason La Canfora said earlier Tuesday that he wouldn’t be a surprised if a deal happened by the weekend.
Meanwhile, Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports broke down the divide between the two sides. He wrote Tuesday morning Johnson was looking for $30 million guaranteed, with a $12 million-per-year average. The Titans are reportedly offering $20 million guaranteed and $8 million-per-year.
That gap can be bridged. We thought Johnson might be pushing for a more unreasonable guaranteed sum.
These types of holdouts usually end in time for the player to play in Week One, and it looks like we could be headed in that direction.