The Houston Texans added a dynamic piece to their offense by trading for Cleveland Browns running back Duke Johnson. We break down the deal.
The Cleveland Browns announced they have traded running back Duke Johnson to the Houston Texans.
At long last, the Duke is freed.
Johnson had requested a trade earlier this offseason and the Browns probably could have done right by the outstanding pass catching back by trading him long ago so he could get acclimated to a new team and new NFL city.
Earlier this offseason, the Browns brought in Kareem Hunt, formerly of the Kansas City Chiefs, and already have Nick Chubb as their featured back in Freddie Kitchens’ offense.
We’ve traded Duke Johnson Jr. to the Houston Texans
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) August 8, 2019
Details: https://t.co/e3swuboBmX pic.twitter.com/hB6sQtRKky
According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, who initially broke the news of this trade, the Browns are getting back a conditional draft pick for Johnson.
What this trade means for Cleveland
In terms of planning for the football season and using the pieces they have in their arsenal of weaponry, this means very little.
Johnson was not going to take running back snaps from Nick Chubb or Kareem Hunt once Hunt serves his suspension. He wasn’t going to take slot snaps from Jarvis Landry.
The Browns would have had to forcibly include Johnson in their plans, and part of the reason he wanted to be traded was because, well, that wasn’t happening.
This trade affects the Browns significantly in terms of the 2020 NFL Draft, where trading their third-string running back could ultimately result in a top 100 draft selection. That’s absolutely astounding.
As easy as it is to find running backs anymore, trading a top 100 pick for a guy on his second NFL contract seems like a trade made by a team without a general manager.
Oh wait.
What this trade means for Houston
This trade means that Houston feels really good about the rest of its roster. Any time you are trading for a running back when they could have signed any number of guys or drafted any number of guys, it speaks to what the coaches think of the roster as a whole.
Johnson is a player who can obviously help the Texans. In four NFL seasons, here are some significant numbers for the former Miami running back.
- 864 yards from scrimmage per season
- 13 total touchdowns
- 9.2 yards per reception for his career
The Texans recently waived D’Onta Foreman so Johnson now joins a much less crowded backfield in Houston and has the opportunity to impact this offense out of the backfield as a runner as well as a receiver in the slot.
He’s very solid in that regard.
Right now, the price the Texans paid seems inconsequential because Johnson is going to make an impact right now, but the price they paid for a 25-year old running back with 534 career touches already to his name was fairly high.