The Dallas Cowboys need help in the running game and a trade for Chris Johnson could be an option for owner Jerry Jones before the Titans release him and the Cowboys also could look at Carlos Hyde as a draft target in 2014 along with free agents on the market like Anthony Spencer, Nate Burleson, Robert Ayers and Sidney Rice to give a boost as well.
The Cowboys come into the time before the draft with some cap space, but not too much and while they would love to pull off the trade for Johnson, some reports have the Titans looking to release within the next week or two. Johnson has come up in trade rumors quite a bit this offseason and part of that has to do with his $8 million salary along with the fact that he averaged a career low 3.9 yards per carry last season and had a long of just 30 yards. According to NFL.com, the titans plan on releasing Johnson and that would come before the team opens up spring workouts and this mimics and issue the team had with Steve McNair years ago.
The titans are not on any deadline to release or trade Johnson, as he has not guaranteed payments of bonuses coming up, but the biggest issue will be the workouts. The Titans may not want him to come in and start working if they are worried about him getting hurt before trading him and if they don't find a deal, they may just release him instead and save the money. CBS Sports is reporting that the team will "likely" release Johnson if they can't work out a trade with another team and the report says that he would likely be the top free agent on the market if that goes down.
Johnson said that he plans on showing up to the offseason workout program if he is on the roster and in a way that could serve as the deadline for the team. Johnson is an explosive player and he has been consistent while going for over 1,000 yards in each of his seasons in the NFL, but he is 29 years old now and is likely on the decline and that is another reason why the Titans wouldn't mind getting rid of him. The Cowboys likely would wait until Johnson was released to sign him, but they do have a high number of draft picks this season with over 10 and they could use those to pull off a trade to keep everyone else out of the running for now.
The team ranked 24th in the league in rushing last season and with DeMarco Murray unable to stay healthy for long stretches and Joseph Randle a bit too young to take over as the feature back, Johnson could be a perfect option. The team could also look at Carlos Hyde as a potential draft target if they miss on Jackson, while ESPN.com also reported that the team could look to add either Nate Burleson or Sidney Rice to help replace Miles Austin from the roster at wide receiver. The draft is also very deep at WR and that could be another potential avenue to explore.