Chiefs, Johnson in standoff over new deal
By Adam Schefter
Special to NFL.com
(July 19, 2007) -- We interrupt the wall-to-wall Michael Vick coverage that is going to last all summer to present another football story.
The biggest training camp battle isn't going to be between Kansas City quarterbacks Brodie Croyle and Damon Huard. It's going to be between Kansas City running back Larry Johnson and the Chiefs.
Over the past month, the two sides have been on vacation, not having had any contract talks since around mid-June. But each side returned this week, the first contract proposal was sent to the Chiefs, and now the game within the game begins.
Johnson is said to be dug in, entrenched, refusing to report to training camp until he has a new contract.
The Chiefs believe Johnson already has a contract, which has one year remaining on it, scheduled to pay the running back over $1.9 million this season.
Larry Johnson wants a deal similar to LaDainian Tomlinson's, but the Chiefs aren't budging.
Johnson is seeking somewhere in the vicinity of $28 million in guaranteed money, which is an easy enough number to trace. Three years ago, San Diego gave running back LaDainian Tomlinson a deal that included $21 million in bonuses. Since then, the salary cap has increased about 35 percent, which would make the guaranteed money in Tomlinson's deal worth about $28 million. At this time, Johnson is unwilling to take much less.
The Chiefs have countered with an offer of guaranteed money somewhere between $11 and $14 million, which is the bonus money paid to some of the game's other highest paid running backs, including San Francisco's Frank Gore, who received $14 million worth of guaranteed money last spring; Seattle's Shaun Alexander, who received $13.5 million worth of guaranteed money last year; Arizona's Edgerrin James, who got $11.5 million worth of guaranteed money last year; and New Orleans' Deuce McAllister, who landed $11 million worth of guaranteed money in his extension in 2005. At this time, the Chiefs are unwilling to pay much more.
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