Former Houston Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson clearly wants to play for a contender in 2015 after it was revealed who the veteran narrowed his choices down to. Spoiler alert: each team played in the conference championship games this past season.
According to Terry Blount of ESPN.com, Johnson's brother tweeted that the seven-time Pro Bowler is interested in the Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots, Indianapolis Colts and Green Bay Packers. This isn't much of a surprise, since Russell Wilson, Tom Brady, Andrew Luck and Aaron Rodgers sound a lot better than David Carr, Matt Schaub, Case Keenum, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Ryan Mallett.
Let's take a look and see what the most likely destination for Johnson is.
Seahawks: Seattle could use Johnson, and Johnson probably wouldn't mind joining them since they're likely to contend for a top seed in the NFC for years to come. But Bill O'Brien told Johnson that his workload would be much less significant and estimated that he might get 40 receptions next year. Well, the Seahawks' leading receiver in 2014 was Doug Baldwin (66 receptions for 825 yards and three touchdowns) with Jermaine Kearse (38 receptions) and Marshawn Lynch (37 receptions) right behind him.
Would Johnson enjoy being on an offense that doesn't pass much to outside receivers and runs the ball (525 attempts in 2014) a ton?
Patriots: New England is probably the best fit because they need a true No. 1 receiver to complement Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola. However, the team has a tight salary cap situation as they look to re-sign cornerback Darrelle Revis, and depending on safety Devin McCourty's cap hit in 2015, the Pats would likely have to do a lot of financial tweaking to fit Johnson in. A potential option would be to release Amendola and his $5.7 million cap hit to make room, since they won't really need him if they put Edelman in the slot.
Colts: Indianapolis let Reggie Wayne go last week and could use a strong veteran presence among young playmakers such as T.Y. Hilton and Donte Moncrief. They also have a lot of cap room (about $25 million) and would give Johnson a crack at the Texans twice a year, which is something that would likely interest him. However, they might be chasing bigger free agents, such as DeMarco Murray and Torrey Smith, so Johnson could be of secondary plans.
Packers: Although this would be interesting, it's probably the least likely to happen. The Packers just re-signed Randall Cobb to a four-year, $40 million deal, which is the same Jordy Nelson signed last season. The emergence of Davante Adams is something Green Bay likely wants to keep moving along with, so it's doubtful the team creates a logjam at the receiving position and hinders the development of younger players.
Free agency will hit full throttle today at 4 p.m. and we'll be keeping an eye on everyone including Johnson.
