• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Cleveland Sports Today

Cleveland Sports News Continuously Updated

  • Browns
  • Guardians
  • Cavaliers
  • Colleges
    • Akron
    • Cleveland State
    • Kent State
    • Ohio State
    • Youngstown State

Browns sign RB D’Ernest Johnson

June 4, 2022 by Dawgs By Nature

NFL: Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

It is a one-year deal worth up to $2.43 million for Johnson, according to cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot.

The Cleveland Browns and running back D’Ernest Johnson reached an agreement on a new contract Saturday.

It is a one-year deal worth up to $2.43 million with $900,000 in guaranteed money for Johnson, according to cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot. The agreement also lowers Johnson’s salary cap number.

#Browns and RB D’Ernest Johnson agree on a one-year deal worth up to $2.43 million if he reaches his incentives. Same as RFA tender, but this gives him $900K guaranteed and lowers the cap number https://t.co/7tPJzU6YdB

— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) June 4, 2022

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

The Browns placed a right of first refusal tender on Johnson in March, which allowed Johnson to seek a better deal in free agency while also allowing the Browns to match any offer.

Related: How will the Browns running back room shake out?

Despite switching agents in April and signing with Rosenhaus Sports Representation, a better deal apparently did come along, which brings Johnson back to the Browns.

Johnson proved to be a valuable insurance policy for the Browns in 2021 as running back Nick Chubb missed three games with an injury and running back Kareem Hunt missed nine. That provided Johnson the opportunity to take over as the lead back in three games, and he responded with:

  • 146 rushing yards and a touchdown against the Denver Broncos in Week 7
  • 99 rushing yards against the New England Patriots in Week 10
  • 123 rushing yards and a touchdown against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 18

In three seasons with the Browns, Johnson has rushed for 721 yards, three touchdowns and averaged 5.3 yards per carry, while adding 28 receptions for 222 yards.

While having Johnson on the roster is nice, the running back is a bit crowded at the moment with Chubb, Kareem Hunt, second-year back Demetric Felton and rookie Jerome Ford joining Johnson.

Cincinnati Bengals v Cleveland Browns
Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images

Chubb is obviously locked in as the undisputed No. 1 back, but Hunt is entering the final year of his contract that carries a cap hit of $6.25 million but no dead cap money, according to spotrac.com. If Berry decides that three running backs are a luxury, then he could look to move Hunt if the price is right.

It seems unlikely that the Browns will carry five running backs on the roster, but it is also hard to see who might not make the team behind Chubb as everyone brings something of value to the table.

These situations have a way of working themselves out, however, so for now the Browns can sit back comfortably in the knowledge that they have one of the best running back rooms in the NFL.

Share this:

  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook

Filed Under: Browns

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Nine Angry Men: The Case for Stephen Vogt
  • Nueve Hombres Enojados: El Caso a Favor de Stephen Vogt
  • Burning Questions: Which are Ohio State’s toughest games this season?
  • Burning Questions: Did Ohio State men’s basketball do enough in the transfer portal?
  • Cavaliers Sign Tyrese Proctor

Categories

Archives

Our Partners

All Sports

  • 247 Sports
  • 923 The Fan
  • Bleacher Report
  • Cleveland.com
  • Cleveland Sports Talk
  • Factory Of Sadness
  • NEO Sports Insiders
  • OurSports Central
  • The Sports Fan Journal
  • The Spun
  • USA Today
  • WKYC - NBC 3

Baseball

  • MLB.com
  • Away Back Gone
  • Last Word On Baseball
  • Lets Go Tribe
  • MLB Trade Rumors

Basketball

  • NBA.com
  • Amico Hoops
  • Cavs Nation
  • Fear The Sword
  • Hoops Hype
  • Hoops Rumors
  • King James Gospel
  • Last Word On Pro Basketball
  • Pro Basketball Talk
  • Real GM

Football

  • Cleveland Browns
  • Browns Gab
  • Browns Plainly
  • Browns Wire
  • Dawgs By Nature
  • Dawg Pound Daily
  • Last Word On Pro Football
  • NFL Trade Rumors
  • Our Turf Football
  • Pro Football Focus
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Football Talk
  • Total Browns

College

  • Busting Brackets
  • College Football News
  • College Sports Madness
  • Forgotten 5
  • Land Grant Holy Land
  • Saturday Blitz
  • Scarlet And Game
  • The Lantern
  • Zags Blog

Copyright © 2025 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in