Titans' Chris Johnson Wants a New Contract

Tennessee Titans runningback Chris Johnson has made it known that he thinks he should be the highest paid offensive player.

Currently he has a five-year deal worth $12 million. This sounds like a lot, but Peyton Manning, the currently highest paid offensive player, is making $15 million this year alone. Johnson is set to make $550,000.

Johnson is holding out of mandatory workouts, but he didn't come to those last year either. It's also not as easy as just paying Johnson the money he thinks he is owed.

Due to the uncapped year, there is a restriction on how much of a raise a player can be given. The number is set at 30%. That means Johnson's salary at max could be $3.12 million a year. However, he can make as much signing bonus money as the team will give him. 

The question isn't whether or not last year's Offensive Player of the Year deserves to make more than $550,000; The question is how the Titans should go about this situation.

Should they give him a $2.5 million raise and then pay him a huge signing bonus making him one of the league's top paid players, or should they make him honor his contract this year and pay him a substantial amount over time once the league has a cap again?

I personally believe they should pay him once they have a salary cap. I don't think he should be paid more than Peyton Manning, as the career longevity of a quarterback is much longer than that of a runningback. If he performs as well as he did this year, I would suggest making him the highest paid running back, but no higher than that. 

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