By David Hollinshead

CJ2K Not Producing

Usually when a player holds out through
your team’s entire training camp and
demands to get a contract extension to
make him one of the highest paid players
for his position, the least you can ask

for is productivity. There’s no doubt that
NFL Tennessee Titans running back Chris
Johnson—nicknamed “CJ” or “CJ2K”—
deserved a new contract. He is the key to
the Titans offence, averaging 121.2 yards a
game on the ground and is also a big help in
the passing game, providing Kerry Collins
a check down target last year. He was also
the most recent running back to break the
2,000 yards a season barrier. To most teams,
if you have a running back that breaks 1,000
you’re feeling pretty good, imagine how the
Titans feel with CJ. The 2,000 yards though
were probably asked of him, last year’s
quarter back tandem of Vince Young and
Kerry Collins didn’t exactly keep their fans
eyes at ease.

The result of CJ’s holdout led to
the team investing on a four year, $53.5
million contract extension, with $30 million
guaranteed on September 1, guaranteeing
he’d be in the Titans line up for their
first game. Their investment hasn’t been
working out at all like they hoped. In the
early goings of the season, Johnson gained
a total of 189 yards from scrimmage and
a dreadful 98 yards on the ground. He is
averaging 2.1 yards per carry, and is on
pace for 522 yards for the season. You
expect these numbers out of your back up
running back, maybe. Not the All-Pro who
demanded you cough up the green to keep
him around.
I don’t like it when players holdout; it
hurts the locker-room, coaches are without
a keystone player, and it just hinders
everyone else. The way you can make up
for that is by coming into the season and
doing your job to the best of your ability,
and Johnson’s ill-production has to have the
Titan’s faithful uneasy about their offence.
The Titans go on the road for their next two

Risk/reward: Contract extensions

before their bye week with games against
AFC North rivals, the rising Cleveland
Browns and the falling Pittsburgh Steelers.
If Tennessee can’t get their running game
going against the Browns, who rank 29 in
the league in run defence, then the bye week
can’t come soon enough.

Wes Welker: On his way out?

Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker deserves
a new contract. After tearing his ACL in the
final game of the 2009 season, he returned
the next year to post a very respectable 86
catch, 848 yard, seven touchdown season.
Now completely healthy, he is Tom Brady’s
go-to guy in every situation. After three
games, Welker has already amounted half
of what he did last year with 31 catches for
458 yards and four touchdowns, having a
99-yard touchdown in week one and a 217
yard game in a losing effort against the
Buffalo Bills. With high personality Chad
Ochocinco posting career low numbers and
being left out of the game plan, and Deion
Branch getting up in age and unable to

 

keep up with some coverages, the Patriots
passing game turns to Welker and their two
tight ends who they drafted last year and
are already a huge factor in their game.
Welker is in the last year of his contract,
and will no doubt command huge money
to keep him. Money that Patriots writer
Andy Hart doesn’t believe he’ll get. Hart
believes because of the severity of Welker’s
knee injury and his age, he won’t get the
Santonio Holmes contract that Welker may
want. Perhaps he’ll go the Patriot way and
reduce his asking price as Tom Brady has
done on repeated occasion to bring in talent.
If Welker does leave, the Patriots have
been grooming Julian Edelman to be his
replacement. Edelman has been pronounced
a “poor man’s Welker,” filling in for him
when Welker went down two years ago and
is doing a nice job. They have a similar skill
set making it not entirely impossible for
Edelman to be Brady’s slot receiver next
year.