Will Drew Rosenhaus help Duke Johnson and the Browns?

Hiring Drew Rosenhaus is a good move for unhappy Duke Johnson because one way or the other he will have a new contract within the next several months.

Duke Johnson made a minor splash recently by hiring Drew Rosenhaus as his agent, which is a good move. Johnson will need to represented by a highly respected agent, because one way or the other he will have a new contract within the next several months, and the current situation has the client very unhappy.

While Johnson has said some stupid things that he should not have said, his basic situation is very understandable. He stands to lose millions of dollars unless he has a big year to justify a big potential pay raise next year. Although this year is fully guaranteed by the Cleveland Browns, who thus have no incentive to let him go, the non-guaranteed portion is $3.6 million for 2020 and $4.6 million in 2021, according to overthecap.com

But the Browns will surely cut him unless he has an outstanding year. So the kid sees $8.2 million going down the drain and he is understandably upset. Who wouldn’t be upset about losing that kind of money, especially after he was led to believe it was going to be his?

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Whose fault is it? Well, there are plenty of people to blame, but the previous agent has to take some responsibility for getting him into a backloaded contract that makes him very difficult to market. What they got him was a contract that sounds very lucrative — $15.6 million over three years — but the contract is very likely to be voided at some point (namely, after this year when the money is less than fully guaranteed) because most of the money is backloaded.

Even with the Browns absorbing the charges for bonus money, a team is very unlikely to be interested in paying him all that money.

Johnson has played well for the Browns, never missing a game, and getting good yardage on the ground and especially as a pass-catcher out of the backfield. For a smaller back, he packs some punch as a blocker also. Last year, his production took a dip last year partly because Baker Mayfield doesn’t need the dump pass as often as DeShone Kizer did.

The problem is that Nick Chubb looks even better, and they may have an All-Pro running back coming on in Kareem Hunt, and meanwhile, Dontrell Hilliard has impressed the coaches.  If he winds up as the fourth-string back, there is no hope of fulfilling his contract next year.

Johnson would like the opportunity to play for a team and have a big year — maybe like 2017 when he gained 1,000 yards from scrimmage and led the Browns in receiving yards. Then he might be able to earn at least another year on his current big contract.

But while the Browns will probably be willing to release him next year, this year’s salary is already committed to. They don’t want another Joe Haden situation where the Browns spend millions of dollars for a star player to play in Pittsburgh.

Johnson’s hiring of Rosenhaus is completely understandable. Given that he’s very likely to be cut at the end of the season, he will need a professional agent to negotiate on his behalf. If there’s a chance to play in 2019 for another team, he may need a restructured contract. No doubt, the current contract is terrible for both the player and the team, and his current agent deserves at least some of the responsibility.

Put it this way, Drew Rosenhaus will not make the mistakes that were made on the current contract.

We might also be reminded that though former Johnson’s agent has been completely professional as far as we know, the husband of the agent purportedly tweeted the following:

"“F— Baker Mayfield for saying that dumb s— about Duke Johnson.  I guarantee you be the one to divide this locker room up. You are not in Texas at Cracker Barrel.”"

Is it necessary to provide a further explanation of why Johnson needed to change his agent This is a no brainer.

The more interesting question is whether Rosenhaus will be able to help his client get to a new team in 2019 or whether they will simply wait till 2020. It’s possible that a restructured deal might allow an NFC team to bring him on board without creating a salary cap problem.  This is not going to be Rosenhaus pounding on the table.

Instead, it requires cooperation and diplomacy, and maybe even a slight giveback from Johnson, to give the Browns motivation to move him, while also creating a situation that is favorable for the new team. In short, Johnson might just be screwed for this year, but if there is a way out he needs the best agent he can get.

Rosenhaus doesn’t work cheap, but if he can restructure Duke Johnson’s contract and enable the Browns to carry out a trade, he will have earned every penny of his commission.