Cleveland Browns running back Duke Johnson will report to training camp Tuesday even though his desire to be traded has not changed.
The Cleveland Browns begin training camp Tuesday and all eyes are on the status of running back Duke Johnson.
Whether or not Duke Johnson would attend Cleveland Browns training camp was questionable. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported that Johnson will indeed attend training camp.
Duke Johnson attending is not necessarily a surprise. It also would not have been a surprise if he did not attend. Johnson’s desire to be traded has not changed. Johnson decided to change his representation a few weeks ago. Now that Drew Rosenhaus represents Johnson it seems like a pretty safe bet that Johnson will end up elsewhere. As mentioned previously, Rosenhaus has successfully got several players out of Cleveland in the past. Including Emmanuel Ogbah and Breshad Perriman.
The problem for Johnson is that he is not in a position of power here. Cleveland has all the leverage. Johnson is not the lead back and there are other options available for the Browns. This is vastly different than the situation in Los Angeles with Melvin Gordon. Gordon knows that he is “the guy” in the backfield and can hold out in order to get a new contract. Gordon is also a much better running back than Johnson.
The best chance for Duke Johnson to be dealt is if a running back goes down with a serious injury. This does not necessarily mean that Johnson would be in the driver’s seat in regards to his status with the Browns. It just means that a team would need to acquire a running back and Cleveland may be able to get more for him in this scenario rather than if they attempted to deal him now.
