Chris Johnson looks for a free agent deal in an era when kickers are better paid than running backs

A nightmarish offseason for free agent running backs continues with free agent Chris Johnson shopping his wares, hoping to land a deal that his brethren can be proud of.

So far, demand for the speedy running back seems to be limited to a few teams, with little of the fervour seen when wide receiverDeSean Jackson suddenly hit the market.  

Jackson signed a 3-year, $24-million deal with the Redskins days after being released by the Eagles and then continued on his merry way to vacation on a private villa in the Caribbean while his new teammates hit OTAs.

Jackson, at 27, is a year younger than Johnson and coming off a career-best season while CJ2K is not, but the discrepancy in the demand for the players shows the new cold, hard reality in the NFL: Momma, don’t let your sons grow up to be running backs.

That’s because NFL’s transition from a running league to a passing league is now complete. Not just on the field but in the way players are paid and drafted.

There are exceptions: Adrian Pederson in Minnesota, and Seattle and San Francisco employ run-first offences; but the rest of the league clearly values quarterbacks and receivers far more than backs.

How else can you explain the fact that kickers are now in the same pay scale as running backs, and, for the most part, received longer-term contracts.

Don’t believe me? Compare the top deals of 2014:

Kickers

Graham Gano, 4 years, $12.4 million

Nick Folk, 4 years, $12 million

Steven Hauschka, 3 years, $9.15 million

Phil Dawson, 2 years, $6.1 million

Dan Carpenter, 4 years, $10 million

Adam Vinateri, 2 years, $5 million

Running backs

Ben Tate, 2 years, $6.2 million

Toby Gerhart, 3 years, $10.5 million

Donald Brown 3 years, $10.5 million

Rashad Jennings, 4 years, $10 million

Knowshon Moreno 1 year, $3 million

Maurice Jones-Drew 3 years, $7.5 million

Where have you gone, Walter Payton.

The league was built on the legs of runners like Jim Brown, O.J. Simpson, Payton, Emmitt Smith and LaDainian Tomlinson. Super Bowls and playoff battles were won with 3 yards and a cloud of dust, the ability to keep the chains and clock moving with power football.

But today’s game features three- and four-wide receiver sets, running back by committees, where the passing game sets up the run and not the other way around, and the difference between a running back getting 3.8 versus 4.5 yards per carry doesn’t mean that much because a swing pass or a quick hitch is just as effective.

When did it all change?

I blame The Catch. For a lot of things.

Frozen in time, Dwight Clark's arms stretch skywards for a ball that should've been beyond his reach while Everson Walls trails feverishly behind. Ed 'Too Tall' Jones and two other Dallas defenders jump prematurely at a Joe Montana fake and watch as the upstart quarterback locates the ball exactly where his savvy coach wanted it during the previous timeout. All under heavy duress and a Super Bowl bid on the line.

What's forgotten is that the Cowboys got the ball back with 51 seconds left and if not for an Eric Wright game-saving tackle on a streaking Drew Pearson AND an ensuing Danny White fumble, Rafael Septien would've likely kicked the game-winning field goal. But I digress.

Over the ensuing decade San Francisco would establish itself as the team of the '80s while Dallas would slowly descend into the waiting hands of Jerry Jones.

Bill Walsh would be hailed as an offensive genius and his West Coast offence would become an integral part of the NFL. Tom Landry, and his 4-3 Flex defence, a league staple, would be overtaken by the 3-4 alignment and for a time, Buddy Ryan's 4-6.

Montana became a first-ballot Hall of Famer. White would give way to Steve Pelluer and Gary Hogeboom.

But it was the rise of Walsh's offensive system that forever altered the league. Not just in the way the game was played but also the way players were drafted and eventually, the way players got paid.
Up until that point, teams needed a superstar running back to win. Period. Needed a first down, you ran for it.

Now here came the 49ers in the championship game with Lenvil Elliott leading the charge -- Dallas was protecting against the pass and Walsh, with time winding down, ran the ball with Elliott to march down the field to set up The Catch.

Don't remember Elliott? Not many do. Elliott was filling in for the similarly unremarkable Ricky Patton. But people do remember Tony Dorsett on the other sideline.

Over time, coaches figured out that three or four Pattons or Elliotts could do a serviceable job instead of paying big money to the Dorsetts of the world, especially when you need to fork out $20 million for a franchise quarterback and $10 million for alpha receivers.

So there’s Chris Johnson, Dorsett-lite, hoping to snag a big paycheque in a league that just doesn’t hand them out any more, especially to older backs.

Yes, he’s a couple of years away from the age of 30, the so-called end of the running back’s productive years, but have a look at Dorsett. From the ages of 29 to 31 he ran 896 times for 3,817 yards, which matched the most productive years of his Hall of Fame career.

Can Johnson help a team? Absolutely. Will he get paid what he deserves? No, and like me, he can “thank” Walsh for that. 

The pursuit of Jared Allen shows the difference between the champs and the Cowboys

The pursuit of free agent Jared Allen shows the distance between the Seattle Seahawks, the Dallas Cowboys and their expectations for the coming year.

The sack master defensive end, who’s coming off an 11.5 sack season in 2013, is reportedly considering three NFL teams to sign with, the champs, the Cowboys and an unnamed club. He could also pack up his ten-gallon hat and ride off into the sunset of retirement.

Seattle’s offer is reportedly for 2-years and $12 million, while no leaks have surfaced out of Dallas since the club signed Henry Melton to a one-year, $5 million deal with a club option for 3 more years for $24 million.

The Cowboys may be silent because they don’t have a free agent dime left to spend. Yes, they could mess around with their salary cap some more but it’s not like signing Allen at this stage in his career is going to turn the team into a Super Bowl contender. Even Jerry Jones has to see that.

Still. Likea wise man once said, youneverknow.

Allen was supposed to take the weekend to decide which team to sign with (Seattle would be the big favourite) but has this far remained silent. Even on his Twitter account.

But really there’s no competition, even if the Cowboys could make a competitive bid.

Here’s what Seattle offers: A quality rotation that allows Allen to rest his nearly 32-year-old legs, pass-rushing balance up and down the line that allows him to face one-on-one situations more often, more three and outs than a Mariners game with King Felix on the mound, space shuttle-launching like noise for opposing linemen during the home campaign, and oh, yeah, a chance at a ring.

Dallas? Well he was born there. More playing time. More double teams. A more natural setting for his rodeo sack dance, the pink Cadillac with the longhorns. Plus his nickname is the Rhinestone Cowboy, not the Rhinestone Seahawk. Did I mention he was born there?

And that’s without taking the monetary equation into account.

Even after signing Melton, the pressing urgency for Dallas and its 32^nd ranked defence will be generating a pass rush.

The Cowboys’ 34 sacks left them in a three-way tie for 25^th in the NFL a year ago. And 17 of those, or exactly 50 per cent, went out the door when Jason Hatcher and DeMarcus Ware left town.  

Many believe Ware was a diminished player last season and point to his career-low 6-sack total.

Yet despite elbow and quad injuries, missing three games, playing out of position at defensive end and being the lone focal point for double-teams and game planning by offensive co-ordinators, Ware, according to sportingcharts.comhttp://www.sportingcharts.com/nfl/stats/defensive-hurries/2013/ finished tied for seventh in the league in quarterback hurries with 16.

Jaren Allen tallied 9 hurries, same as Hatcher. George Selvie, who will undoubtedly have a harder time repeating his 7-sack campaign without Ware, was second on the club with 11.

Long-yardage sacks can be game changers, especially if forced fumbles are involved, but hurries often present a bigger picture of a pass rusher’s ability.

That’s because sacks is a fickle statistic.

Is a one-yard sack where a quarterback runs out of bounds the same as 15-yard loss on 3^rd down? How about when a teammate pressures the quarterback, who then takes a few steps into the unsuspecting arms of another?

Many will know that Robert Mathis led the league with 19. 5 sacks but few will realize that the Vikings’ Brian Robison led the NFL with 27 hurries. Fellow Viking DE Everson Griffen added 13 (14^th in the league), which is why Minnesota is somewhat comfortable letting Allen (tied for 40^th) go as a free agent.

If Allen is considering playing for another contract or adding to his career sack totals, then the Cowboys could offer this edge: Substantial more opportunities. The Cowboys played more than 100 defensive snaps than the Seahawks last season, and there’s little chance Dallas will be getting off the field much faster in the upcoming campaign.

 

I know where I would go if I were Allen. It rhymes with cattle. 

The Seahawks are reloading, picking and choosing their gems while the Cowboys are at the Dollar store, hoping to scape enough funds to find a bargain.

Dallas Cowboys sign Henry Melton at health-asterisk reduced price

Now there’s a free agent signing Dallas Cowboys fans can get excited about.

Defensive tackle Henry Melton, if fully recovered from last year’s knee surgery - and that's a big if, is exactly the disruptive force the team desperately needs in the middle of their wafer-thin defence.

Reunited with defensive co-ordinator Rod Marinelli, with whom the former Bear enjoyed his finest campaigns, 68 tackles, 13 sacks over the two seasons, Melton should be motivated to play well.

Melton returns to his hometown roots and is essentially on a one-year deal, worth a reported $5 million, with a club option for three more seasons worth $24 million. He's playing for his next big contract or the option on this one.

So there you have it Cowboys fans, your one and only bona-fide free agent for the upcoming season. There’s no money left for anyone else.

Melton is a bit of a medical risk, he may still miss part of training camp, but that is why the Grapevine, Tex., native comes at a discounted price.

Melton earned a Pro Bowl nod in 2012 and was franchised by the Bears in 2013, earning $8.5 million. At 27, the 6-foot-3, 295-pounder was athletic enough to play running back at Texas for his first two college seasons before switching to the defensive side of the ball. He offers size, quickness, productivity at a premium position in today's NFL.

But.

Ah, no buts today. Enjoy the signing. Adding Pro Bowl-level talent to the club can never hurt. Figuring out how to possibly add that $8 million hit in 2015 can wait for another day. As can the alleged biting incident at a Grapevine bar.

The lowdown on the Dallas Cowboys' free agent haul

Terrell McClain, Jeremy Mincey, Brandon Weeden. 

And Jerry Jones still has his wallet open. 

With any luck, the 2014 bounty will top the hallowed free agent class of 2013*: Ernie Sims, Justin Durant, Jarius Wynn and Edgar Jones. *George Selvie was part of the initial strike but was released a month later and re-signed ahead of training camp.

Underwhelmed?

This year’s signings are actually somewhat intriguing, if slotted properly.

McClain, Mincey and Weeden are career backups with a bit of upside. Solid depth. On a contending team, they’d fight for snaps. But that won’t be the case in Dallas, where they may be forced to play leading roles.

McClain and Mincey will get more snaps at defensive tackle and defensive end simply because of the Cowboys dearth of talent on that side of the ball. They're active players who could pile up career-highs in tackles and sacks, just like Selvie did in 2013.  

But they’ll do it on a horrid unit.

In NBA parlance, they’d be leading scorers on a last-place team, piling up stats because of volume shooting. With no one else to take the shots, some eventually go in, don’t they? Why hello, Andrea Bargnani.

But they’re not gamebreakers. Coaches aren’t going to spend extra film study time looking for ways to stop these M&M boys. McClain is undersized, chases the run well but is not much of a pass rusher. Mincey is the same.

Still, the Jones beat goes on. Maybe free agent visitors Henry Melton and Jared Allen can provide the veteran stopgaps the team desperately needs. But I’m not holding my breath. Not because Melton and Allen aren’t worth it, there’s just not enough salary cap gold in the coffers.

Which brings us to Weeden.

There’s no problem slotting him as your third quarterback.

Giving Weeden an opportunity to watch and learn for a couple of years may yield a decent backup quarterback down the line. Call it the JoshMcCown theory.

That’s all. He’s not the quarterback of the future. And hopefully not the present, either.

Weeden was drafted two years ago in the first round at the age of 28 by Cleveland after angling for a baseball career. After a mildly successful rookie season, he experienced a horrible sophomore campaign.

With no support from a new Browns management team that didn’t draft him, Weeden was on a short leash last season and ended up getting thoroughly outplayed by both Brian Hoyer and Jason Campbell.

Now 30, he’s just three years younger than Tony Romo, the quarterback Jones already wishes he had given more talent to win the Super Bowl with.

Weeden has much to learn and little time. To put his 23-game career arc in perspective, at the same age, Drew Bledsoe had already ceded his job to Tom Brady in New England after nine full seasons at the helm.

Weeden was presumably signed to provide another training camp arm and insurance, should Romo need more time to heal his back and backup Kyle Orton retire, an unlikely scenario given that he would have to pay the club some $3 million dollars from his signing bonus.

  

However, if Weeden were to get considerable playing time next season, due to injury or circumstance, there’s little evidence to support the theory that the team will succeed. Unless the goal is to get a higher draft slot.

More likely, Weeden will be the backup in 2015, when the club can let Orton walk.

Will he be ready then? At $623,000 a season, it's not much of a risk. Just like McClain and Mincey. But there may not be much reward either. Which is why they're so readily available.

With the Dallas Doomsday here, it's time to trade Tony Romo

Cowboys fans, this is the winter of our discontent.

First, the polar vortex just won’t leave. The miserly snowman is supposed to exit this week but he’s digging in, leaving golf sticks to get dustier and dustier.

Moreover, could it get any chillier in Big D?

DeMarcus Ware. The face of the defence for the past decade. Gone. Just like that.

Jason Hatcher. Gone. To the Redskins? That’s a double slap to the face.

Anthony Spencer. Checking out how many Benjamins the Giants want to throw at him. That’d be the triple whack.

And that talent is draining from the league’s worst defence? With no money to refill those pass-rushing needs.

We know who’s to blame. So how does owner/GM/impresario Jerry Jones right the ship? Or at least bail most of the water from the hull?

REBUILD. Say it with me, Jerry. It’s time. To. REBUILD.

 It wouldn’t take long. It potentially could be done within two years.

The hardest part would be accepting how fast the window of opportunity is closing for Tony Romo. And that the cast around the quarterback, mainly on the other side of the ball, needs a massive overhaul. One that won’t be accomplished by shuffling salary cap money around from year to year.

Love him or hate him, you have to admit Romo’s past three seasons have been the best of his career. Statistically, they’re the best three seasons of any Cowboys quarterback, Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach included.

In Romo’s first three seasons as a starter, when the team was at its best -- thanks to the input from coach Bill Parcells, Romo was credited with losing 21 fumbles. In the last three seasons, that number was down to 10.

Romo has improved his ball security and pocket awareness while still delivering the big plays and elusiveness that made him such a marked improvement over Drew Bledsoe.

Still, those last three years have delivered a 24-24 regular season mark and an 0-0 playoff resume.

If Romo were to shake off the effects of back surgery and deliver another statistically superb season in 2014, what would the team’s record be?  7-9? 8-8? 9-7?

Anyone think the upside is higher? Not with what’s looming on the defensive side of the ball.

Romo has been durable in his career, starting less than 13 games only once in the past 9 seasons -- missing 10 games in 2010 with a broken collarbone. But he has taken a lot of big shots. Those rib, hand and back injuries accumulate. Should he miss significant time in 2014, the Cowboys’ fate would be sealed.

Thus, here’s the Romo paradigm for the upcoming season: Limited upside with major risk to the downside. And would this scenario change in 2015, when his contract will account for $27.7 million in salary cap money?

 

Jones made the tough decision to part with Ware. Soon it’ll be time to move on from the last gems of the Cowboys’ Parcells era, Romo and Jason Witten. The question is not if, but when. The earlier that’s realized and accomplished, the more value they would net a franchise in severe need of an infusion of talent.

We have a problem. Houston? What can you give us? A second-rounder this year and next year’s first?  Any other offers? Done. Sign Michael Vick to a short-term deal.

Doubt there’s a market for Witten and his contract, but fish around. Seattle could use a pass-catching tight end. Then see what Gavin Escobar can do. If he’s not the heir apparent, and there was little to believe he is from last season’s snapshot, then find out now.

Trading Witten, the franchise's greatest tight end, is not done lightly, but this is the state of emergency facing the Cowboys.

Just like winter needs to release its icy grip, Jones must accept past mistakes and move on. It’s either a slow descent or a fast one: Short-term pain and a chance at a quick recovery or continued irrelevance.

Acquire as many picks as possible and carpet bomb the next couple of drafts. After all, even a blind squirrel finds some acorns.