Perhaps the best thing about Cardinals running back David Johnson‘s new contract is its duration. The fourth-year player signed only a three-year extension, committing him to the Cardinals for a total of four years.
Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the situation remained at impasse in large part because the Cardinals refused to do a short-term extension. The logjam regarding the duration of the contract suddenly broke on Friday night, and now a multi-year contract is in place for one of the best running backs in the game.
For Johnson, the offer became a no-brainer, once the commitment shrank to four years. With the franchise tag for running backs expected to be in the range of $11.3 million for 2019, Johnson would have made slightly less than $25 million in 2019 and 2020. Instead, he’ll make more than $30 million over those two years, with most if not all of it guaranteed.
So instead of going year to year for the next three years and assuming the risk of injury and ineffectiveness, Johnson will make what he would have made over the next three years, plus more than $5 million on top of it.
And since the deal carries only three new years, Johnson will become a free agent at a time when a new CBA likely will be in place, the TV deals will be ready to renew (and likely spike), and gambling revenue will be increasing.