What If?

Speculations have been made that Andre Johnson wants out of Houston. I guess the addition of Ryan Fitzpatrick just does not tickle his fancy. Being the 3rd overall pick in 2003 by the Houston Texas, Johnson is now entering his 12th NFL season this year. He has spent all 11 seasons with Houston and has only been in the post season twice (2011,2012). Andre Johnson can become the 10th receiver of all time with 1,000 receptions by this season (currently at 927), he has been selected as a Pro Bowl receiver 7 times, also has had 7 seasons of 1,000 yards receiving — and let’s remember that these stats have been produced with catching passes from mainly David Carr and Matt Schaub. Now that Ryan Fitzpatrick has been added to the cast, I can understand Johnson’s frustration.

Johnson is now at age 33 with 11 seasons under his belt. How many more years does he really have left where he can perform at a Pro Bowl level? Fitzpatrick is a par at best quarterback. AJ wants to use what’s left of his prime years with a quarterback and a team that is going to give him more promise. I don’t blame him. I feel bad for guys such as Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald — amazing talent, has super mediocre quarterbacks.

Not So Fast.

Now that Johnson is interested in parting ways with Houston, it looks as if there are 4 teams that are interested in him: New England Patriots, Carolina Panthers, Cleveland Browns, and Oakland Raiders (whose starter might be Matt Schaub).

Now the issue for some of these teams is they don’t have the cap room for Johnson’s current contract. He is set to make $10 million this year and average $10.5 — $11 million per year for the next few years. A contract that is not easy to absorb.

The second issue is that Houston is not looking to trade Johnson. I wouldn’t want to trade him either. He is clearly their best receiver and their offense would clearly decline in talent and ability.

My Vote.

If the NFL was a reality television show, I would place my vote on Carolina Panthers to become the winners so they could acquire #80. Carolina has taken quite a hit on their receiving corpse and besides, who wouldn’t want to see Super Cam and Andre Johnson link up?! Maybe it’s favoritism since I have owned Cam every year since he has been in the league…or maybe, just maybe it would be a duo of epic proportions.

In reality, unfortunately, Johnson will most likely remain a Houston Texan. My advice to the Texans…get your team a quarterback, because they have a nice surrounding offensive cast between Johnson, Foster, and now what seems to be a promising DeAndre Hopkins. Capitalize, don’t waste the talent.

I have kept myself updated with news and statistics on Andre Johnson with websites such as Boston Globe as well as nfl.com.