10:47pm: Johnson told Berman that he and the Texans did not get to the point where they discussed his contractual situation.
“It never got that far,” Johnson said. “Like I said I don’t get how you can tell a guy that you wouldn’t start certain games and stuff like that, especially knowing the team and knowing the talent that you have. I don’t see why I wouldn’t be a starter in this league. I don’t know. It just didn’t make sense to me. I’m pretty sure it won’t make sense to a lot of other people. People try to picture it the way they want to picture it, saying that I asked for a trade. Well, yeah there’s a reason why I asked for a trade. I think if anybody else was in my situation they would have done the same thing I did.”
7:33pm: The Texans have given Andre Johnson‘s agent, Kennard McGuire, permission to seek a trade, according to Mark Berman of FOX 26. This step probably means that Johnson’s career with the franchise is over, according to Berman.
The Texans asked Johnson to accept a reduced role with the offense in 2015. In response, Johnson’s camp told the Texans he would not do that and requested the team trade him or cut him, according to NFL sources that spoke with Berman. Coming off his worst season in which he played at least 15 games, Johnson is slated to earn $10.5MM in base salary next season with a cap figure of $16.1MM. The Texans wideout will be 34 in July after notching just 936 yards and three TDs in 2014.
Recently, Texans GM Rick Smith indicated that he might have to address Johnson’s cap number but hoped to see him spend his entire career with Houston. Of course, today’s news might mean that Johnson will finish out his career elsewhere. Late last year, a report indicated that Johnson would be open to a pay cut in order to stay on board, but he quickly shot that notion down.
“I don’t know where that story came from,” said Johnson. “I didn’t make that statement.”
The Colts recently had internal discussions about the idea of pairing Johnson with T.Y. Hilton, though other veterans like Brandon Marshall, Mike Wallace, and Vincent Jackson were also mentioned. If Johnson’s agent does find a trade partner, one has to imagine that team will call for Johnson to re-work his deal on some level. The 33-year-old (34 in July) is set to earn base salaries of $10.5MM in 2015 and $11MM in 2016 with $1MM workout bonuses each year.