{"id":70059,"date":"2019-08-08T19:01:53","date_gmt":"2019-08-08T23:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonnfl.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=70059"},"modified":"2019-08-08T23:09:05","modified_gmt":"2019-08-09T03:09:05","slug":"duke-johnson-cleveland-browns-houston-texans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2019\/08\/08\/duke-johnson-cleveland-browns-houston-texans\/","title":{"rendered":"Cleveland Browns Didn’t Panic With Duke Johnson, and It Paid Off"},"content":{"rendered":"

Duke Johnson<\/a><\/strong>‘s passive-aggressive offseason trade ordeal is finally over. The Cleveland Browns<\/a> shipped the third-string running back to the Houston Texans<\/a> in exchange for a fourth-round draft pick in 2020, which becomes a third-rounder if Johnson is active for 10 games. Despite requesting a trade back in March, general manager John Dorsey held his ground and got more for Johnson than anyone predicted.<\/p>\n

Being Patient With Duke Johnson Paid Off for the Cleveland Browns<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Johnson was a third-round selection back in 2015, and had four good seasons with the Browns, although he was consistently underutilized. He touched the ball 534 times and was never Cleveland’s feature back. He did the majority of his damage in the passing game, establishing himself as one of the NFL’s best receiving backs, among the likes of Tarik Cohen<\/a><\/strong>, Saquon Barkley<\/a><\/strong>, and James White<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A month after the Browns signed Kareem Hunt<\/a><\/strong>, news broke that Johnson had requested a trade. Perhaps he was worried about his role with the team, playing behind Hunt and Nick Chubb<\/a><\/strong>. Perhaps he wasn’t happy with his contract. These are both possibilities, but they are very weak ones. Johnson had a clear role on the team with Hunt suspended. And he signed his three-year extension after<\/em> the Browns had drafted Chubb and signed Carlos Hyde<\/a><\/strong> last offseason.<\/p>\n

Throughout the offseason, Johnson and his agent were vocal about wanting a trade. Both Dorsey and head coach Freddie Kitchens were adamant that they didn’t care. Kitchens said Johnson was a big part of the Browns offense, and Dorsey stated that he would not give away good football players.<\/p>\n

Patience Makes Perfect<\/h3>\n

Despite interest from multiple teams, it took over four months for the right deal. Many speculated that Johnson would eventually be traded for a fifth or sixth-round pick, since running backs aren’t valued highly in today’s NFL. Since the Patriots gave the Bengals a second-rounder for Corey Dillion<\/strong><\/a> in 2004, the only running back traded for more than a fourth-round selection was Cleveland’s Trent Richardson<\/a><\/strong> in 2013.<\/p>\n

Johnson has never missed a game, so he should be active for more than 10 games with the Texans. Perhaps Houston, with their more spread-based offense, will be able to use Johnson better than the Browns ever did. Even if that doesn’t happen, Deshaun Watson<\/a><\/strong> will certainly benefit from having a back of Johnson’s caliber.<\/p>\n

The Browns are now a worse team than they were yesterday, but that doesn’t mean the trade wasn’t worth making. Cleveland has liked what it has seen from Dontrell Hilliard<\/a><\/strong> during training camp, and Hilliard should fill Johnson’s role, at least until Hunt comes back. Trading Johnson gets his three-year\/$15.6 million contract off the books, saving valuable cap space. And that draft pick could become cheap depth, or even a future starter with Dorsey’s draft record.<\/p>\n

It didn’t fill a need at present, but the Browns made this trade from a position of need. The offense might take a bit of a hit without Johnson, but his missing presence should not have all that much of an impact given the skill position players around Baker Mayfield<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Main photo:
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>