Tampa Bay Buccaneers named team to watch for Duke Johnson Jr.

Running back Duke Johnson Jr. is demanding a trade from the Cleveland Browns, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could be a potential suitor for his services.

The saga of running back Duke Johnson and the Cleveland Browns continues as the former Miami Hurricane parted ways with his previous representation and hired Drew Rosenhaus as his new agent. As Johnson continues to seek a trade from the Browns, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been named by Pro Football Talk as a “team to watch as a potential Duke Johnson destination” (PFT via Twitter).

Rosenhaus has been notorious for advocating players away from the Browns over the years. In 2017, converted quarterback to receiver Terrelle Pryor was coming off a 1,000 yard season in Cleveland when he was advised by Rosenhaus to turn down a four-year deal worth $8 million annually. That move has not played out well for Prior thus far; he is also the agent of Buccaneers’ wide receiver Breshad Perriman who also negotiated to dissolve a verbal agreement.

Basically, hiring Rosenhaus as his agent as virtually guaranteed that Johnson’s time is Cleveland is running short and any opportunity for the two sides to mend their relationship is doomed. Johnson would be a great fit in the Buccaneers’ new vertically oriented offensive system.

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Johnson saw his role drop significantly from 2017 to last season; on a historically bad Browns team over the two year span where they won one game, Johnson was one of a limited number of playmakers. This offseason, however, the Browns added running back Kareem Hunt after Johnson saw limited reps in 2018; from there the writing was on the wall for Johnson.

In Cleveland, Johnson has been a threat to catch passes out of the backfield, but also lined up a great deal in the slot for the Browns as well throughout the first four years of his career to this point. The Buccaneers not only lack a back that has the innate ability to catch passes out of the backfield with Ronald Jones and Peyton Barber, but slot receiver Adam Humphries also departed for the Tennessee Titans this offseason.

Throughout his career, Johnson has tallied nearly 1,300 yards on the ground, averaging over four yards per carry on limited attempts; he has ran the rock into the endzone five times. Additionally, he has an astounding 235 catches over his career, including 74 in 2017, for nearly 2,200 yards and eight touchdowns.

Do not forget that Johnson is Miami’s all-time leading rusher as well, and just because he has not been asked to run between the tackles in Cleveland does not mean that he can’t. With a trade for Johnson, the Buccaneers could potentially knock out two birds with one stone: a back who is a weapon out of the backfield and as a receiver.