The Cleveland Browns may need more playmakers on offense, but it’s time to discuss a contract extension for the one they have in Duke Johnson.
This past offseason, the Cleveland Browns were proactive when it came to signing Joel Bitonio and Chris Kirksey to contract extensions. Heading to the offseason, they should do the same when for Duke Johnson. The third round pick from Miami has been productive and improved in each of his three seasons with the Browns.
Johnson has never been the Browns feature back nor should he be. He’s always been more of a general weapon that does a bit of everything and that is exactly what has allowed him to be a dangerous player. Able to block, run or catch passes out of the backfield or line up as a receiver, Johnson is a consistent matchup problem that just finds ways to make plays.
The only thing that has ever held him back has been the amount of touches he gets.
–2015: 104 carries for 379 yards, 61 receptions for 534 yards, 2 touchdown
–2016: 73 carries for 358 yards, 53 receptions for 514 yards, 1 touchdown
–2017: 52 carries for 275 yards, 50 receptions for 446 yards, 4 touchdowns (through 11 games)
–2015: 5.5 yards per touch
–2016: 7.0 yards per touch
–2017: 7.0 yards per touch
Johnson is currently averaging 65 yards per game and is on pace to crack 1,000 total yards for the first time in his career. At this point, he is the most proven offensive weapon the Browns have. He’s been an effective receiver from the start, but his rushing has steadily improved from 3.6 yards per carry as a rookie to 4.9 to 5.2 this season.
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Last year, the Browns were able to get 2,143 total yards from the combination of Johnson and Isaiah Crowell. This year, Johnson has improved his production while Crowell struggled the first half of the season. The Browns will replace Crowell in the offseason and hopefully get a superior feature back. Doing so should only create additional opportunities for Johnson.
The New Orleans Saints have capitalized on this exact setup with Mark Ingram as their feature back androokie Alvin Kamara in that Duke type of role. Kamara has gotten the touches Johnson hasn’t and combined with a productive Ingram have already amassed an incredible 2,149 total yards and 17 total touchdowns through 11 games. If they keep up this pace, they’ll hit 3,125 yards between them.
The first month of the 2016 season, the Browns were on this type of clip, but simply couldn’t sustain it. The blueprint is there and should they be able to find their Mark Ingram in this case, the combination could be deadly even if it doesn’t quite yield the results the Saints have gotten this year.
In order for that to happen, the Browns need to keep Johnson in the fold. He’ll enter the last year of his contract in 2018 and if he’s allowed to make it to free agency, he’s going to be a valuable commodity.
The front office was smart in making sure Kirksey and Bitonio never had to think about free agency. Assuming Johnson’s camp is willing to negotiate, inking Johnson to a extension in the neighborhood of four years and $25 million with a good portion of it guaranteed, Johnson gets the security all players want while the Browns lock up Johnson’s services until he’s 29 years old.
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The 2015 Cleveland Browns draft class hasn’t yielded much, but Duke Johnson and Danny Shelton are both players the team should look to retain for the future. Shelton has an option to be picked up before they have to worry about negotiating a big deal in 2019 but Johnson has one year left with no security for his future. The front office can ensure his future while keeping the most reliable playmaker the Browns have on offense and starting the offseason with a win.