Chris Johnson: 4 Free Agency Destinations That Make the Most Sense

An interesting nugget of news broke this morning regarding the struggling Titans running back, Chris Johnson.

According to ProFootballTalk, "several teams believe" the Titans could release Johnson before the fifth day of the 2012 league year, before his base salary of $8 million became fully guaranteed. Johnson's contract only guarantees his money against injury, not performance.

If Johnson does not improve his play, and the Titans go ahead and release him, he would be quite an interesting free agent. He is just a year removed from being one of the best backs in football, and someone is going to give him a chance to prove that his 2011 performance was an anomaly and that his holdout is the cause of his lack of production.  

Again, this is all speculation, and a lot has to go wrong for CJ to actually hit the market. But for now, let's speculate some possible suitors for "CJ0K" next spring.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Bucs have been juggling running backs for a while. They have found their power runner in LeGarrette Blount, but his physical running style makes him somewhat fragile in terms of durability. Johnson would be a perfect change-of-pace back who can also carry the load when Blount goes down.

If Johnson can be anything close to what he was in 2009 and 2010, the Bucs would have the best tandem of backs in football.

Cincinnati Bengals

Cedric Benson is on a one-year deal, and he appears to be on the way down. What better way to replace the unspectacular Benson than to bring in a potentially game-changing back such as Johnson? As solid as Andy Dalton has been so far, you want him to have as many weapons at his disposal. Johnson can also catch the ball out of the backfield, which is a dimension that Benson lacks.

The Bengals certainly have a history of taking cast-offs and naturally talented players that no one else wants. In fact, that's exactly how Cedric Benson ended up in Cincinnati in the first place.

Seattle Seahawks

The Seahawks have been looking for a feature back since Shaun Alexander fell off the map. Marshawn Lynch been been pretty terrible so far this season, although a lot of that can be attributed to the growing pains of a new-look offensive line. Adding a dynamic player like Johnson would give this offense a dimension of speed that it has lacked for a long time. 

If only they could settle that pesky quarterback spot.

Denver Broncos

Believe it or not, there are positions on the Broncos' depth chart other than quarterback. It may seem like a crazy concept, but the Broncos have many more concerns than just how terribly Tim Tebow is. .

Knowshon Moreno has yet to prove that he can be the dynamic threat the Broncos hoped when they picked him ninth overall. Willis McGahee can only last so much longer. At the right price, bringing in Johnson would help bring Denver's running game return to a level it has not seen since the days of Terrell Davis.