In a move that's been days in the making, the Arizona Cardinals have reportedly signed veteran running back Chris Johnson to a one-year deal.
Fox Sports NFL insider Jay Glazer was the first to report the news:
Johnson apparently passed a physical earlier in the day, and was seen in Cardinals gear prior to Glazer's report surfacing. This shouldn't be seen as too much of a surprise considering the issues Arizona has had with its running backs in camp. Rookie third-round pick David Johnson has missed a ton of training camp action with a hamstring injury. In addition to this, the team remains worried about the long-term durability of third-year speedster Andre Ellington.
Johnson, 29, has seen his production dip a great deal in recent seasons. Last season saw him put up career lows in rushing yards (663), receptions (24), receiving yards (151), total yards (814) and total touchdowns (two) in his only year with the New York Jets. Back in 2013, despite what seemed to be declining athleticism, Johnson still tallied over 1,400 total yards and 10 scores for the Tennessee Titans. His best season came in 2009, when Johnson led the NFL with 2,006 rushing yards and over 2,500 total yards for the Titans.
Now, years removed from being considered an upper-echelon running back in the NFL, the soon-to-be 29-year old veteran will look to make his name known with the Cardinals during the remainder of the preseason. While terms of the deal are not yet known, it's highly unlikely Johnson received much in terms of guarantees, meaning the Cardinals could cut him prior to Week 1 without having invested much from a financial standpoint.
Fantasy Slant
At this point, it's readily apparent that Cardinals' running backs should be a must avoid in fantasy football. Andre Ellington remains the sole player at that position with even RB2 upside. Though, the added competition of the Johnson "brothers" could very well limit his touches in the regular season. In fact, that may be the ultimate goal here for head coach Bruce Arians and company.
Running back by committee approaches are the death of fantasy owners in the fake football world. Now take into account the Cardinals playing in a division with difficult defenses, and that's magnified even further.
As it relates to Johnson, he's nothing more than a potential waiver-wire add should touches start to trend in his direction during the early stages of the regular year. Of course, that's working under the assumption that he even makes the 53-man roster.