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LB Ted Johnson Seeking Big Raise. Even as early as the beginning of last season, the Patriots were only concerned with one thing besides returning to the Super Bowl, re-signing their key players. Star running back Curtis Martin signed an offer sheet with the New York Jets which was too much to handle if the Patriots planned on resigning Linebacker Ted Johnson. It was a difficult decision, but Bob Kraft elected not to match the offer for several reasons. The Patriots would receive even more draft picks from Parcells and the Patriots would be able to resign Johnson. The Patriots even said that they needed the money to sign Ted Johnson. "People are going to speculate and say that's the reason why, but to me Curtis's leaving was a pure business decision," Johnson said yesterday during a lunch-hour break in the Pats veterans mini-camp. "Do I feel responsible for his leaving? No, obviously not
The loss of Curtis Martin will take its toll on the Patriots this season, but with a talented group of young backs, anything is possible. The Patriots spoke with Ted Johnson's agent, Jack Mills, and now they plan to move ahead toward a four-year contract extension. Mills said he and Johnson would prefer it to be complete before the start of training camp, which begins in mid-July. In a recent Patriots Football Weekly news article, Johnson said he would prefer to get it out of the way because "the less you have to think about things, the better you perform," Johnson said. "Obviously, we'd love to get something done right now, but once training camp starts, we would put off any talks until the end of the season," said Mills. Obviously, the Patriots would love to wrap this up before the start of camp, but its much more complicated than that. The Patriots have perhaps the league's best salary-capologist, Andy Wasynczuk. He has the ability to make great decisions that enable the Patriots to have successful seasons year after year. Mills and Johnson are seeking a deal comparable to the four-year, $23.7 contract signed by Pittsburgh linebacker Levon Kirkland earlier this spring. "It's just like buying a house," Johnson explained. "You look at comparables. That's what it basically comes down to, being compared to other players around the league. If people think you're as good or better than some others, then your salary should reflect that." The Patriots believe that is an unbelievable deal and hope that they are not forced into that kind of deal. Mills said that while he has spoken a few times with Andy Wasynczuk, he doesn't have a sense as to whether the club is serious at this time. "Three years ago if you had asked me if I'd ever dreamed of maybe having a deal like that, I'd have said you were crazy," he said. "You've got to keep things in perspective, which is why I feel blessed to be where I am." Although his focus is squarely on the team, Johnson admits his head spins at suggestions he may be worth as much to the Patriots as Levon Kirkland is to Pittsburgh. "We talked numbers before Levon Kirkland's deal, but we haven't discussed them since," said Mills. "As far as we're concerned, Kirkland's deal changed the standard completely, and unless the Patriots are willing to talk in those numbers, there wouldn't be any reason to talk." The Patriots are trying to prevent causing ill emotions with Johnson and his agent Mills, but Mills is obviously being greedy. Wasynczuk said the Patriots aren't going to be held at gunpoint by isolated deals in which the price is above what they consider market cost. But Mills could argue that Johnson is the same caliber as Kirkland and is four years younger. The Patriots could place the franchise player tag on Johnson after this season and leave him at that status indefinitely with 20 percent raises. Under the new collective bargaining agreement, salaries given under the franchise label are now guaranteed. Johnson, who will earn $403,000 in 1998, would then have to accept the franchise salary, the average of the five highest-paid linebackers in the NFL. Under Mills's calculations, the top five average would be $3.976 million. A lot could change with that before the end of the season. Based on current figures, the average salary for the top five linebackers would increase to $4.53 million in two years. Mills and Johnson would like to avoid the franchise label and thinks the Patriots would want to do likewise because the money is guaranteed and with raises at 20 percent increments, they might take a bigger salary cap hit than if they gave out a large signing bonus that could be prorated over the length of the deal. Mills said that in addition to the four-year extension, Johnson's '98 salary would have to be upgraded either through a raise or with a signing bonus. Ted Johnson believes he is worth all that money and that the Patriots should think so as well. He also said that he doesn't know how valuable the Pats consider him because the job of negotiating his contract is held by his agent. "I don't want to be a two downs-and-out guy," he said. "I want to stay on the field more. That's why I've worked so hard at becoming a better pass defender. There have been big improvements in my game in that area and I just want to keep getting better." One big question that is on everyone's mind is if the Patriots defense will pick up where it left off last year. Johnson said that fans have every right to expect that. He'll make sure of it! "This will be the first time in the three years I've been here that we've played the same defense twice," he explained. "With us, it's all comfortability. Last year, we were totally lost at this point. Now we're in sync. It's fun to go out and play like that." He is so confident in the defense this year, "I wouldn't trade any of our guys for anybody else's players," he said. "We're solid across the board." He also said that he believes prize rookie Tebucky Jones will do a good job at cornerback in place of the departed Jimmy Hitchcock unless Chris Canty or somebody else beats him out of the job. The bottom line is that he would like to be paid what he's worth. When asked if he has enjoyed playing for the Pats and if he wanted to stay longer, he said enthusiastically, "Are you kidding me?". "Are you kidding me? It took only two years to go to a Super Bowl and the fans have been so supportive to me I'd be stupid to want to leave." INSIDE NEWS: An unidentified source claims that Jets running back Curtis Martin has been to the Jets mini camp and is 100% ready to go. Curtis suffered a severe abdominal strain which caused him to miss most of the remainder of the season. Eventhough he is said to be 100% healthy, that doesn't mean that it can't reoccur or worsen when Curtis hits the field in a few weeks. |
