The Biggest contracts in Arizona Cardinals history
By Kyler Burd
The controversial cash given to David Johnson sparked debate amongst Arizona Cardinals fans.
The biggest contract for an Arizona Cardinals running back is probably one fresh in the minds of many fans. That’s right; it’s David Johnson.
After a spectacular 2016 season where he had over 2,000 yards from scrimmage and 20 touchdowns, Johnson was rewarded with a massive 3-year, $39 million contract with an annual average of $13 million.
As most Cardinals fans know, Johnson never returned to his NFL rushing leader form and showed a significant drop in production in 2019, with only 345 rushing yards in 13 games.
In that season, Kenyan Drake was acquired in a mid-season trade and became the No. 1 back for the Arizona Cardinals putting up big numbers and reinvigorating the run game.
Johnson’s Cardinals career came to an end in one of the most lopsided trades in NFL history when he was sent to the Houston Texans along with a 2nd round pick for wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins.
Was the deal worth it?
No.
In fact, the fallout from the David Johnson contract had league-wide ramifications making many teams wary of doling out so much for a running back. So recently, the trend has been to draft young backs and attempt to scheme their production before letting them walk at the end of their rookie contracts.
The Cardinals made a huge mistake by saddling themselves with a massive cap hit for a position that can generally be replaced by younger, cheaper talent every few years.