The first thing you do is lower the expectations for Chris Johnson, no longer CJ2K.
But CJ1K is plenty good enough.
CJ1K makes the Jets better.
Slow and steady wins the race sometimes if your name is John Idzik and you lie in the free-agent weeds.
Running backs have been devalued in this quarterback-driven NFL, as CJ1K learned the hard way at the negotiating table.
Idzik didn’t break the Woody Johnson Independence Bank (2 years at a reported $8 million that could balloon to $9 million with incentives), nor did he need to.
Adrian Peterson’s window to win a Super Bowl is closing fast because Christian Ponder has been a bust. You don’t Ground & Pound your way to a Super Bowl anymore. Even Rex Ryan has gotten that memo.
The Jets won’t threaten the Patriots unless Geno Smith takes the next step, or Michael Vick recaptures some of his old form and is able to stay on the field for a change, and Idzik drafts the likes of LSU wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. as a dangerous complement to Eric Decker.
It doesn’t mean CJ1K won’t help, because he will, under the assumption he will be rejuvenated by better blocking and a change of scenery. At 28 (he turns 29 in September), there is still tread on those tires, and the Jets are not unrealistic to believe CJ1K’s career-low 3.9 yards per carry last season was more of an aberration than the start of a decline.
The positives outweigh the negatives — as long, of course, as his knee that was surgically repaired in January holds up, and he accepts his role as something other than the horse.
Ryan has never had a running back that causes defensive coordinators sleepless nights. Thomas Jones was a 220-pound bruiser, LaDainian Tomlinson showed flashes but was a shell of his Hall of Fame self, Shonn Greene was more of a between-the-tackles banger, Bilal Powell is just a guy and Chris Ivory runs violently but is no gamebreaker.
CJ1K is the most dangerous Jets back since Leon Washington, before he broke his leg in October 2009.
Get him the ball in open space and he remains a threat to take it to the house and electrify it.
Lightning, to Ivory’s thunder.
With Smith and/or Vick each a threat in his own right to pull the ball down and run, that should only make CJ1K all the more problematic for opposing defenses.
CJ1K has never missed a game in six seasons because of injury, and even played the last 13 games of 2013 with a torn meniscus. So he’s plenty tough.
CJ2K had the most touchdown runs of 80 yards or longer in NFL history with six. CJ2K had 12 career touchdown runs of at least 45 yards, behind only Barry Sanders (18) and Jim Brown (13). CJ2K was the sixth player to rush for 1,000 yards in each of his first six seasons, along with Sanders, Curtis Martin, Eric Dickerson, Corey Dillon and Tomlinson.
CJ2K was an $8 million back.
That isn’t who is joining the Jets.
It’s CJ1K, who is now a $4 million back.
Who is worth it for Ryan and the Jets.