A little over a week ago, the Browns reached an agreement to re-sign running back D’Ernest Johnson to a one-year deal. Pro Football Focus’ Doug Kyed reported some details on the contract. 
Johnson’s deal is billed as a one-year, $2.43MM contract. The deal will have a base salary of $1.07MM with a guaranteed amount of $729,125 and a signing bonus of $151,500. It is unclear from Kyed’s breakdown if the reported guaranteed amount includes the signing bonus or if it is an additional guaranteed portion of the base salary.
Johnson will also have the ability to increase the maximum value of the contract through a number of performance-based incentives. He can earn an additional $450K if he reaches 545 rushing yards and can up that bonus to $608,250 if he can get to 670 rushing yards. Likewise, Johnson can earn an additional $450K if he reaches 700 total yards from scrimmage and can increase that bonus to $608,250 if he can total 835 yards from scrimmage. The achievement of earning any of these incentive bonuses would represent career-highs in either category for Johnson.
The Browns had placed a $2.43MM restricted free agent tender on Johnson in March. The base salary ($1.07MM), the signing bonus ($151,500), and the two maximum incentive bonuses ($608,250 each) make up that $2.43MM amount.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again now: Kareem Hunt has been very good, but if I were him I wouldn’t be buying property in Cleveland. Johnson has a somewhat different skill set but he’s every bit as good as Hunt, and actually I think Johnson could start for a number of other teams if given the chance. His numbers aren’t by accident. And I say this as a Steeler fan who first noticed D’Ernest in his limited chances before 2021.
Yeah I hate being the “I knew about him before he broke out” type, but he’s definitely been a solid player on a per snap basis even before this year. Once he got more carries, it was impressive to see what he was capable of.
I love Kareem Hunt, but it would be an easy call financially to move on from him next offseason and give Johnson a bigger opportunity. That also doesn’t include Demetric Felton or Jerome Ford, but they’re in the same spot that Johnson was a year or two ago.
I like Johnson too but the Browns offensive line helps a lot. They averaged over 5 yards a carry as a running back group. This will be Hunt’s last year
I think you’re right, all of you that is. Johnson’s game against Denver shows that he can be the guy in a pinch. There aren’t many teams whose backups have the luxury of having backups. With Watson, I imagine that the Browns will not use two backs as frequently as they did in Mayfield’s younger years.
Watson will be trusted, in all likelihood, to improvise more on the field. I doubt that there will be as many snaps available for Hunt, and with a good backup in Johnson, he’ll likely have his last year or be dealt midseason. It would be good value for Cleveland, but we’ll have to see first if Watson will be available, because the other quarterbacks will want that elite two back tandem to remain as competitive as possible and will allow Cleveland to use some of their pre-Watson scheme as a fall back. Secondly, even if Watson is available, Cleveland will have to see if their plans unfold as expected. I think that they want to deal Hunt, but not until they’re sure that they don’t need him.
As an aside, that seems like a great job in negotiating with a guy to give him so many incentives. Johnson may have gotten a better deal elsewhere, but Cleveland loaded his deal with so many milestones at relatively small intervals to try and keep him feeling rewarded for usage. I don’t know if Johnson is happy with that in lieu of another deal, but they certainly made an effort.