An interesting young receiver is about to hit the open market. The Colts won’t tender restricted free agent wideout Marcus Johnson, so he’ll be entering unrestricted free agency later this month, according to Joel A. Erickson of the Indianapolis Star (Twitter link). In a separate tweet, Erickson noted he was surprised by the move.
Erickson writes that the Texas product is “expected to get a lot of interest” from other teams now that he’ll be free to sign wherever. Johnson originally signed with the Eagles as an UDFA in 2016 and spent the first two years of his career in Philly, winning Super Bowl LII with the team. He was then traded to the Seahawks as part of the Michael Bennett deal, before Seattle traded him to Indy prior to the 2018 season.
Johnson was injured for the first half of last season, but he took on a prominent role down the stretch. He ended up starting six games and even had a 105-yard game against Tampa Bay, which is why it’s a bit surprising that the Colts are letting him walk. Overall he finished with 277 yards and two touchdowns in only eight games. Still only 25, it’ll be interesting to see where he latches on next.
Go Longhorns!
Deep draft at WR is not going to help his market.
Would be a good low cost add on for the Chiefs.
Why would a team NOT tender a player heading to FA ? Other than just not wanting him back . Does every team have the option
of placing a tender on every potential FA from their team ?
They can only tender restricted free agents. Well, not including the elite free agents who they can franchise or transition tag. But Johnson was until this move a restricted free agent (RFA) but is now an unrestricted one (UFA). I believe only undrafted free agents (UDFA’s) can be RFA’s, while draftees who finish out their contracts automatically become UFA’s.
Bigger Fish to Fry
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