The Official Chris Johnson Holdout Thread

This is ridiculous. Some are arguing that CJ offers little improvement to the team.

Players "outplay" their contract and have it renegotiated and/or extended by other franchises all the time. CJ has clearly performed at a top 5 RB the past 3 years and done for 2 years at a pittance. Yes- he agreed to the contract. But many of you fail to recognize the importance of his agreement LAST YEAR to not hold out and play for a ~$500k increase- still WELL below a top 5 RB pay. He agreed to this knowing the CBA wasn't in effect but he did it for the benefit of the team. He was re-assured that his contract would be re-worked before this season.

The front office looks just as bad (or worse) nationally than CJ does right now. Review some of the comments on ESPN to get a feel. CJ did the right thing last year. The front office should do the right thing now. I don't blame CJ for not responding to the FO's ultimatum. He IS dealing honorably. He could have showed up and resolved to play for one more year before moving out of here in FA (like many other have).

Get him and his agent in today and hammer this out. Stop with the game playing- CJ isn't falling for it again. Demonstrate to the players that we are a franchise that is honorable.

 

I've read the report they are saying "show up to camp and we'll assign you a non-contact duty......".

The point is CJ has seen how the FO has treated others poorly in the past. This is NOT situation where the FO needs to flex some imaginary face-saving muscle. CJ is a "once every 10 years" RB. Why should he believe the FO now as opposed to last year?

I'm pro-employer- believe me when I say that. But this is yet another bungled job when dealing with one of our marquee players. It does have an effect, especially with a brand new HC.

 

I have to agree... He can atleast come to camp and get some work done.

 

agreed.

Barry Sanders is a perfect example of CJ IMO. Both of them got/get tons of negative plays putting the O in a bad spot. A negative 5 yard run is the same as a SAC and basically crushes a drive. Especially with Vince 'I see you Bo' Young at QB. I agree CJ is dynamic and exciting just like BS. Neither of them have made a difference where is counts so you are correct and we agree again.

agreed. We can lose without CJ just as well as we can lose with CJ.

 

Well I agree with almost everything you said here. I think at the end of the day it's a new coach new staff. I do think if they say come in and we will talk then he should come up. Listen I agree the man should get paid and I don't fault him for holding out. I do think he can handle it a tad bit better.

My point would be come to camp CJ, if the talks don't start or are not to your liking then go home and kick your feet up. I don't think it's anything wrong for wanting an employee to show some good faith first before paying them millions of dollars, however, I also don't think it's wrong for an employee who grossly out performed his role to demand a raise.

At the end of the day he can always leave again, a round trip plane ticket to Nashville may cost him roughly $500. So if we looked at the opportunity cost here risk $500 over possibly $Ms. Again, I'm not his agent. However, I do think he should at least show up first. If he don't like what's being said or the pace of the talks then leave...

That's how I feel about it! I do agree with your point as I said in a previous post that it perplexes me that people can honestly argue that he offers little improvement to the team.

 

I think this is something that should have been taken care of in the new CBA... I don't think a player should be able to hold out because he thinks he is worth more money. He held out last year for more money, should have held out longer then.

I would like to see pay scales for years in service, maybe more protection for a player that gets cut.

 

I've stated it multiple times

CJ was scared and that is why he laid out. Was he dinged, only he knows, but he can play dinged. Hell EG put Murder boy Lewis on his arse with a dislocated shoulder. EG was not scared to play big in the big games. CJ is a complete no show in the big games, at least too this point in his career.

 

Show me the Ws!

 

Oh okay. For a while there I thought I was trying to talk sense into someone who wasn't an idiot. Never mind.

 

Typically if you're too injured to play, you walk with a limp or...show some sort of sign of being hurt. CJ just walked around on the sidelines as if he simply didn't want to play. And there was never an injury from that...

And it was then that he lost me as a fan. He's a coward. Between that and staying in meaningless games late to butter his stats... hard to not see him in a negative light.