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The Texans cut Duke Johnson on Friday. They want to keep David Johnson.
Aaron Wilson of Houston Chronicle reports that Texans and Johnson have a mutual interest in the return of running back. Johnson is under contract, but the team wants him to cut the payment.
Johnson, 29, has a salary cap of $ 8.812 million, the sixth highest in the NFL via spotrac.com. He has a guaranteed $ 2.1 million from his base salary of $ 7.95 million.
The Texans acquired Johnson as part of the trade that sent DeAndre Hopkins to Arizona.
Johnson lost one game on the COVID-19 reserve list and three more on the reserve due to injury. He finished with 691 yards and six straight touchdowns, with 314 yards and two touchdowns receiving.
Johnson has only a 1,000-yard running season in his six-year career, but 2020 marked his fourth season with at least 1,000 yards of scrimmage.
He said at the end of the season that he “definitely” wanted to stay with the Texans, but, of course, the team now has a new GM, a new coach and the starting quarterback wants to leave.