The Browns are adding another former first-round defensive back on a one year deal. After signing safety Karl Joseph on Wednesday night, they have agreed to terms with former Round 1 cornerback Kevin Johnson.
Johnson and the Browns agreed on a one-year, $3.5MM deal, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Incentives could spike the contract’s value to $6MM, Schefter adds.
The Texans backed out of Johnson’s fifth-year option in 2019, a move the new CBA will no longer allow teams to execute free of charge, and he wound up with the Bills. The 2015 first-round pick played in all 16 games as a role player in Buffalo’s secondary, recording 36 tackles and posting five passes defensed.
Despite being an off-the-bench contributor, Johnson stayed healthy in 2019. That proved to be pivotal for a cornerback that saw injuries derail his time in Houston. Johnson, 27, missed 10 games in 2016 and 15 in 2018. A severe concussion kept him out of action in ’18. He will join a Browns cornerback crew headed by Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams.
Andrew Berry keeps plugging holes with cheap guys that still have upside. Johnson is a decent slot corner at about half the price of TJ Carrie. A lot of these are one year deals too, so they maintain flexibility.
Johnson has been a pretty big time bust. Article doesn’t really go into how effective he has been if he’s on the field, which is rare. I don’t like this signing.
As a slot corner, he’s fine. He was a bust in Houston (as an outside corner) but bounced back to an extent in Buffalo. I believe he was a top 25 corner by PFF, and those rankings should be taken with a grain of salt but he can be a solid slot guy. If he stays healthy (obviously a big if), I see no problems with it.
You are correct, 23rd best CB on PFF. I’m very surprised. Hopefully he stays healthy. He will be a role player on a one year deal, not much risk here. Browns making some good moves so far, hopefully we see some significant improvement over last year’s debacle.
He’s not being signed as an outside corner. He’s going to be the slot/nickel which he was actually pretty good for Buffalo last year.