The Houston Texans restructured David Johnson’s contract, which will now be worth up to $ 6 million by 2021, including $ 4.25 million fully guaranteed upon signing, a source told ESPN.
Johnson could have been a victim of the salary cap had he not restructured his contract.
Johnson was said to owe nearly $ 9 million, of which only $ 2.1 million was guaranteed, before agreeing to the restructured deal.
Houston swapped for Johnson in March 2020 in a deal that sent wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals.
Johnson ran for 691 yards and six touchdowns on 147 carries last season. He played in just 12 games, missing three with concussion and one while on the reserve / COVID-19 list.
When the Texans traded for Johnson a year ago, the deal was struck by former general manager and head coach Bill O’Brien, who was fired in October. At that point, Johnson came out of the lowest production of his career and was given the keys to the Houston backfield.
Johnson’s best season came in 2016, for the Cardinals, when he was selected for his only Pro Bowl and was a first-team All Pro after setting career records in rushing yards (1,239), rushed touchdowns (16), receptions (80), receiving yards (879) and yards from scrimmage (2,118, who led the NFL).
The Texans released pass-catching running Duke Johnson last week.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Jeremy Fowler and Sarah Barshop contributed to this report.