Keyshawn Johnson Would Be a Bad NFL GM

There are some great football players who transition smoothly to front-office personnel roles. John Elway and John Lynch are good current examples. Keyshawn Johnson? Need not apply.

Having clearly learned nothing from Lynch when the two were teammates in Tampa Bay, Johnson made two bold proclamations on his morning radio show. The first was that Dak Prescott hasn't proven anything yet and doesn't deserve the same kind of contract Deshaun Watson recently signed. The second was running backs should get paid. Neither makes any sense.

Beyond the fact that the two quarterbacks have similar stats and the same 1-2 career playoff record, Johnson's assertion at the end really flummoxed me. He said if Prescott has the same kind of season he's had recently, which apparently isn't good enough for Keyshawn to pay top dollar, the Cowboys should franchise tag him again until he proves he's worthy of a larger deal. Well, if the Cowboys franchise tag Prescott in 2021 it would cost $37.7 million, or roughly more than every other quarterback in the NFL other than Watson and Patrick Mahomes. So "unproven" quarterback gets paid more than everyone else in the NFL. That makes sense.

Later in the show, as the news broke that Alvin Kamara and the Saints should have a new deal soon, Johnson said that running backs who impact their team the way Kamara does deserve to get paid big money. So No. 1, I guess Prescott doesn't impact the Cowboys the way Kamara does the Saints (laugh) and No. 2, I guess Johnson doesn't realize that teams that pay big money at the running back position don't win the Super Bowl these days.

Thankfully, Johnson isn't auditioning for a front-office role right now. He has a great gig at ESPN and has seen his media career return to the upswing recently. However, he should remember that in today's NFL, quarterbacks get paid top dollar and running backs don't. That's just a simple fact any smart GM can tell you that. Or anyone who has watched the NFL in the last few years.