Jovo feeling jilted

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/01/2012 (5079 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg cornerback Jovon Johnson — the Most Outstanding Defensive Player in the CFL in 2011 — is doing everything he can right now not to return to the Blue Bombers in 2012.

Johnson, who worked out with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars this week and has another workout scheduled next week with the Cincinnati Bengals, told the Free Press Friday that he is frustrated that Bombers management has not rewarded his play in 2011 with a contract extension and so he has decided to aggressively seek playing opportunities elsewhere.

“Had they given me an extension or a new deal at the end of the year — or even considered it — I probably wouldn’t be where I am right now,” Johnson said in a phone interview from Pittsburgh. “But considering they didn’t, I’m going to go out there and make the best of it and maybe land an opportunity in the NFL.

“I have interest from a lot of teams. About 12 teams have contacted me and I’ve spoken to (them). I don’t know what’s going to happen. Things do look promising, but I take it day by day…”

Johnson became the first defensive back in CFL history to be named the CFL’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player and the 28-year-old said he was surprised and disappointed to learn the Bombers wouldn’t even consider giving him a contract extension as he heads into his option year in 2012 with Winnipeg.

“If things had worked out in Winnipeg at the end of last year, I wouldn’t be going through this right now,” said Johnson. “It’s just one of those things where now I guess they’re making me feel like I’ve got something to prove, considering they want me to play my option year before they think about giving me a new contract.

“I feel like I should get what I deserve. A lot of people will say, ‘Well, he wasn’t even the best defensive player on the team,’ ” Johnson continued, referencing criticisms in some corners that teammate Jonathan Hefney — not Johnson — was the club’s best defender in 2011.

“The fact remains I was the defensive player of the year. You can’t go against that. It’s already down in the record books and history books and everything and I’m the one who has the trophy. So therefore, at the end of the day, I feel as if I should get what I deserve. And right now, I don’t feel like I’ve been given that…”

Johnson’s comments caught the Bombers’ front office off-guard on Friday. “Players have agents and agents are the ones who are supposed to be dealing with these kinds of discussions. It comes as somewhat of a surprise,” said Bombers assistant general manager Ross Hodgkinson. “But we would never begrudge a player an opportunity to maybe catch on with a team down there and make a lot of money.”

Hodgkinson said the club has the highest regard for Johnson’s contributions but negotiating a new contract for him is down the list of priorities for a team that has a slew of free agents to sign — including starting quarterback Buck Pierce — not to mention a new offensive co-ordinator and possibly defensive co-ordinator as well.

“Right now the priority is three quarterbacks that are free agents and a bunch of offensive linemen that are free agents,” said Hodgkinson. “Free agents are just far more of a concern at this point in time than players in their option year. That’s just a fact of life.”

Johnson said his workout with the Jaguars went “as well as I had hoped” and he is optimistic he can land an NFL job with at least one of his suitors. “I definitely feel like I’ve got something I can show them. The opportunity is there and I’m going to go out and try and make the most of it.”

The silver lining for Bombers fans — if there can be one in the revelation the league’s best defender is upset and seeking work elsewhere — it’s that Johnson says categorically that he will return to the Bombers and play in 2012 if his NFL foray doesn’t work out.

“No question. I’m a loyal player and I’m loyal to them. They gave me the opportunity to come there and play and I’ve played at a high level for Winnipeg. If things don’t work out in the NFL, I’ll go there and I’ll be the player that I’ve been and try to make things better,” said Johnson.

“The last time I played out a contract without receiving an extension was in ’09 and that was my best year before this year. So I look forward to doing the same if I come to Winnipeg again.”

Johnson led the team in interceptions in 2011 with eight, two of which he ran back for touchdowns. Signed in 2008 as a free agent, he’s recorded 258 tackles, 21 interceptions and six touchdowns for Winnipeg over four seasons, while also doing reliable — if unspectacular — duty as a punt returner.

Johnson is allowed to seek NFL opportunities heading into an option year because he signed his contract prior to 2010, when a new collective agreement prohibited CFL players from signing with the NFL until they become free agents.

The Bombers front office isn’t necessarily averse to rewarding past performance with contract extensions heading into option years. But the most recent foray in that direction didn’t work out well — the club gave running back Fred Reid a contract extension at the start of last season, after Reid won the CFL rushing title in 2010, only to see Reid blow out his knee midway through 2011.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

 

 

QUOTABLE

Here’s a sampling of other things Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive back Jovon Johnson and assistant-general manager Ross Hodgkinson had to say on Friday:

Would Johnson cancel any scheduled NFL workouts if he was offered a contract extension now:

“It’s a possibility. It depends what the contract is offering.”

— Johnson

 

Would Johnson prefer to play out his career in Winnipeg:

“I was hoping that would happen. I love Winnipeg. I love playing there. I’ve been a player, since I’ve been there, everyone has come to believe in and have confidence in that I’m going to go out there and do my job and be successful at it. Hopefully, at some point they want to make me a Bomber for the rest of my career. But if not, I will have to work with what I’m given.”

— Johnson

 

What is the state of Johnson’s discussions with the Bombers:

“I haven’t heard anything from the Bombers as far as even receiving a new deal. I know in our brief discussions throughout the season, during the end of the year, about maybe possibly doing a contract extension, they said ‘no.’ “

— Johnson

 

Why wouldn’t the Bombers just want to lock down Johnson now to preclude any possibility of him going to the NFL:

“You want to make a donation to the cause?… Until we’ve resolved some of this free-agent situation, I have no idea how much of that salary cap pie we could even give him. Because that’s what it is — a pie. And we’re just getting into that process now of cutting it up.”

— Hodgkinson