It's no secret that Cleveland Browns running back Duke Johnson isn't exactly happy with his current situation. He's been talking about a trade for quite some time in fact.
Things got to the point where he fired his agent, and hired Drew Rosenhaus. Now, Rosenhaus is meeting with the Browns in order to figure things out, according to Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com.
Duke Johnson is one of the best receiving backs in the entire NFL. He proved that with a monster year in 2017, racking up 74 receptions for 693 yards and three touchdowns.
However, Johnson saw a somewhat diminished role in 2018. The running back wasn't even targeted as many times (62) as he had receptions the year prior. He finished with 47 receptions for 429 yards and three touchdowns.
The main reason for his smaller role was the new offense. Cleveland had a new franchise quarterback in Baker Mayfield, who maybe doesn't need to rely on check down passes to the running back as much.
More importantly to Johnson though, a new franchise running back was found in Nick Chubb. With Chubb getting the majority of the field time, Johnson's chances seemed to dwindle. Then the Browns went out this offseason and lowered his role even more.
Cleveland brought in Kareem Hunt, effectively pushing Johnson out of the picture.
However, there's a pretty obvious reason why they don't want to get rid of him. Hunt is suspended to start the season. That means for the first few weeks, Johnson will have a fairly sizable role. Once Hunt's back though, you'd imagine Johnson will disappear.
That's where the crossroads is. Johnson wants to leave because he knows his role with the team is going to be non-existent soon enough. The Browns don't want to get rid of him though because they need him for the immediate future.
With all that in mind, something clearly needs to be done. Hopefully, Duke Johnson and Drew Rosenhaus can come to an agreement with the Browns that makes everyone happy.
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