It feels like a forgone conclusion that two things will happen this offseason for the Arizona Cardinals at running back. One is that they will re-sign Kenyan Drake to a multi-year contract. The other is that they will trade David Johnson.

It makes sense, as Johnson played little down the stretch, including getting no snaps in the season finale, while Drake played very well and earned the praise of coach Kliff Kingsbury and teammates. General manager Steve Keim has said publicly he wants Drake back.

However, Drake could be seeking more than the Cardinals wish to pay and could test the free agent market in March.

Should that happen, things would change.

Another free agent?

If Drake were to leave elsewhere, the market at running back isn’t great. There are some big names like Derrick Henry and Melvin Ingram. They will come at a premium price. The other options would either be older than ideal, come from other offenses or are unproven or simply not that great.

If they were to sign someone they view as a starter, Johnson would likely still be traded.

Keep Johnson?

Should Drake go elsewhere, what is most likely to happen is the Cardinals keep Johnson. As it is, they very possibly will have to eat some of his salary to move his contract.

It is true that Kliff Kingsbury appeared to lose trust in Johnson and Johnson appears to be unhappy, but he was fairly productive in the first six weeks of the season. At that point, he was 10th in the league in yards from scrimmage.

However, if they were to retain Johnson, priorities would change for the draft. They would almost have to draft a running back on Day 1 or Day 2.

The relationship looks broken. Johnson probably needs a fresh start. While no one in the organization has said anything critical of him, he is unhappy and he clearly lost the trust of the coaches to get on the field.

However, if he somehow remained on the roster and showed he can be a dynamic player again, it wouldn’t take much to forget the problems of 2019.

That said, clearly the best scenario for the Cardinals at running back is to bring back Drake and move on from Johnson.

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Ep. 256

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Ep. 255

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