Chris Johnson Scores Huge Deal from Titans, Why He's Worth Every Cent

Finally, the long national nightmare is over: Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson got the contract he's been looking for—a four-year, $53.5 million deal with $30 million guaranteed. This will serve as an extension to his current contract, which has two years remaining, and means that the back will be a Titan through the 2016 season.

Indeed, that is a lot of money for a fourth-year running back coming off of a relatively down year (for him, I suppose). But the deal is worth every dollar to the Titans as much as it is to Johnson.

For his three previous seasons, Johnson has become the face of not just the Titans' offense, but of the entire team.

His 4,598 career rushing yards—2,006 in the 2009 season alone—and 1,008 receiving yards propelled him into one of the most elite players in the league and gave NFL fans reason to take notice of an otherwise nondescript Titans team.

And now, the Titans are in a rebuilding phase after losing head coach Jeff Fisher and longtime quarterback Vince Young and replacing them with Mike Munchak and Matt Hasselbeck, respectively. Obviously, both Hasselbeck and Munchak are stopgap measures intended to tide the team over before a more permanent head coach can be installed and until 2011 draft pick quarterback Jake Locker is comfortable enough to take up the starter mantle.

All the team has is Johnson, and they know it. That's why the game of chicken between the Titans' brass and the running back could only end with a monster deal. If they lost Johnson for the year due to a holdout, or (if it came to that) a trade, there would be little chance for the team to recover in time to salvage the season.

Johnson also represents a lot of incoming cash for the Titans. For all the millions they doled out to him with this new contract, it pales in comparison to the money he brings in for the team when he's on the field.

His presence means attention from fans, and that means ticket sales. Without Johnson on the roster, Titans fans have fewer things to look forward to in 2011 and beyond.

Trying to maintain fan confidence while embarking on a major restructuring project is hard enough as it is in a large market; in a smaller market in Tennessee, it means empty seats on Sundays and local television blackouts.

Johnson's contract mitigates any damage that could come to ticket sales while the rest of the team remains a work in progress.

The bottom line is this: The Titans need Chris Johnson more than he needs them. It only serves the team's best interest to pay him what he's worth. The $30 million they can do without—the thousands of offensive yards that Johnson, and that money, represents are priceless.