With Texans receiver Andre Johnson answering questions about whether he’s happy in Houston by saying, “I’m under contract so I have to play my contract out,” the next question becomes how long that contract will force him to stay put.
So we’ve gotten our hands (or at least eyes) on the contract, and it looks like the Texans will be able to keep Johnson without a restructuring for at least one more season beyond 2013.
Next year, Johnson has a $6.5 million signing bonus and a Week One roster bonus of $1 million, payable if he completes offseason workouts and all contractual obligations. There’s another $1.969 in cap charges based on bonuses paid out in the past.
It’s the same arrangement in 2015, but with the salary increasing to $10.5 million. It creates a cap number of $13.469 million, which means that it’ll be time for a new deal or a new address come 2015.
The real question is whether the Texans would trade or cut Johnson after this season. It would result in a cap charge of $3.983 million, which could be split over two years based on timing.
But that’s a lot less than what it will cost in cap dollars and cash to keep him, especially if he doesn’t want to stay.