The Chiefs re-sign Larry Johnson

On Tuesday, Larry Johnson ended his holdout and agreed to a 5 year extension, which would pay him $43.2 million ($19 million guaranteed), which would make him the highest paid running back in the NFL based on salary per year. Not only is this deal going to make Larry Johnson rich, it also makes him look incredibly smart.

Although Johnson’s agent, Alvin Keels, is still inexperienced, and has had a less than stellar past when it comes to contract negotiating, I have to hand it to him for getting this job done because from Larry Johnson’s standpoint, it was a necessity. Johnson is set to turn 28 in November and has carried the ball 752 times in the last two seasons, including an NFL record 416 times last season. So, to recap…you have a 28 year old guy who is a starting running back in the NFL, where running back’s are on the decline by the time they’re 30, he’s rushed over 400 times last season, he has a less than stellar offensive line to block for him, he had one year remaining on his contract, and he was only set to make $1.7 million this season…The likely scenario for LJ would have been this: Carry the ball for another 350 times this year for 1.7 million, get franchised next year and make 12 or 13 million, then, since he’d be 30, he’d sign a contract with the Chiefs or someone else for an amount that would be worthy of a “declining skills” running back. Johnson’s deal makes a whole lot of sense, and I give a lot of credit to “Team Larry” (Johnson, his dad and Keels) for recognizing that he needed to hold out and get a new deal now, if he wanted to maximize his money.

Johnson’s agent, Alvin Keels can be reached here (I think anyway, it was the only site that looked like it could possibly be for a sports agent that I was able to find)

Yahoo! Sports: Chiefs RB Johnson agrees to an extension