Bengals will sign Rudi Johnson to five year contract, avoid Franchise tag

[DoogMinAmo]

Enquirer Article

Bengals, Rudi near 5-year deal
Announcement on RB expected today

By Mark Curnutte
Enquirer staff writer


The Bengals and Rudi Johnson apparently will beat a league deadline of 4 p.m. today and are expected to announce that they have reached agreement on a five-year, $26 million contract.

The NFL has a 4 p.m. deadline today on contracts with franchise players before both sides must enter a four-month cooling-off period.

The four-year veteran running back is under contract for one year. The team's designated franchise player, Johnson signed the $6.3 million tender March 7.

The new deal would pay Johnson about $12 in guaranteed money with $16 million over the first three seasons, a source close to the situation told the Enquirer late Tuesday night.

"We're going to give it 100 percent effort," Peter Schaffer, Johnson's agent, said earlier Tuesday. "But I don't know if there is enough sand left in the hourglass. It won't be for a lack of effort on the parts of Troy Blackburn, Katie Blackburn, Paul Brown and myself."

The Blackburns and Brown are Bengals executives. Team spokesman Jack Brennan said the club had no comment on the Johnson negotiations.

If the sides don't reach agreement by the end of NFL business today, they can't negotiate again until the middle of July.

Johnson set single-season franchise records with 361 rushing attempts and 1,454 rushing yards in the 2004-05 season. It was his first as the team's featured running back, following the trade of Corey Dillon to New England.

Johnson had said in January that he would not play under a second consecutive one-year contract and thought that he deserved long-term security with the Bengals. He later changed his mind and signed the one-year tender - the amount of which is the average of the top five running back salaries in the NFL.

All along, Johnson has said he wanted to remain in Cincinnati.

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

I am not sold on him being worth the money. However, it is a good sign that he won't be costing 6.3 million this season.

[Reds Fanatic]

Here is another article about the signing.

Deal is worth $26 million
By John Clayton, ESPN.com

For two years, the Bengals didn't want to pay Corey Dillon's replacement, Rudi Johnson, "Corey Dillon" numbers.

On Tuesday evening, the Bengals officially made Johnson their "Corey Dillon" back by giving him a five-year, $26 million contract that gives him $12 million in guarantees and pays him $16 million over the first three years.

"I'm the new and improved," Johnson said late Tuesday of his Dillon-like status. "It shows how much they wanted to be committed. This is something I've been wishing for all of my life."

The deal is structured in such a way that Johnson should be able to make all $26 million. The cap numbers for five years are level enough that the team won't have to release him later in his career for cap reasons. In the final year of the contract in 2009, Johnson's cap number is $4.8 million.

Dillon, who was traded to the Patriots last season for a second-round choice, had a five-year, $26 million contract that had $10.5 million in signing bonus money in 2001 after a painful, nasty negotiation.

All talks involving Johnson and the Bengals were pleasant because Johnson isn't about challenging team authority. He's a back who focuses on precision and execution. A fourth-round choice in 2001 from Auburn, Johnson draws praise from his offensive line teammates for his ability to run plays the way they were drawn up in practice.

"I'm glad we got it over," Johnson said. "I didn't want to be on one-year contracts. Now I know where I'm going to be for the next five years. I'm glad this finally came true."

Johnson filled in for an injured Dillon in 2003 and rushed for 957 yards on 215 carries. His success gave the organization confidence enough to trade Dillon.

Johnson followed with a Pro Bowl season in 2004. He rushed for 1,454 yards and ran for 12 touchdowns.

The Bengals named him their franchise player last month. Because Johnson gave them Dillon-like numbers rushing the ball, the Bengals decided to give him the same in salary.

By staying positive in negotiations, Johnson and his agent, Peter Schaeffer, tried to stress to the Bengals the importance of keeping the offensive skill players together. With Johnson, the Bengals have Carson Palmer, Chad Johnson, T.J. Houshmandzadeh and others tied up through most of the remainder of this decade.

In the end, Johnson didn't want to be greedy. He could have held out for the five-year, $27.5 million deal given to LaMont Jordan, who played only 18 percent of the Jets' offensive downs. He was willing to take less than Jordan because he was happy with the financial numbers and happy to stay a Bengal for the next five years.

By getting the deal done by Wednesday, the Bengals will have the ability to franchise other players in future years.

[Reds Fanatic]

Bengals have a press conference about the Rudi signing at 11 AM.

[macro]

Okay, so what does that say about last year's first round pick, Chris Perry? Could it be that ML and Co. have soured on him? I don't think they would waste a first round pick on a backup RB. I think they intended to let Rudi go after last season and now have changed their minds. I hope Perry isn't a bust, but I've got concerns. How much would have a defensive stud player have helped with that first pick last year?

[pedro]

Seems like a mistake to me.