Déjà vu

Bucs incumbent QB Johnson has been there, done that

If you're Brad Johnson, you have to be wondering if you've heard this one before. After Randall Cunningham and Jeff George, you've skillfully learned how to read the signs -- not to mention between the lines -- and know how to pick up on the message behind the move.

When Tampa Bay surprisingly signed former Buffalo quarterback Rob Johnson to a bargain-basement contract Saturday, new head coach Jon Gruden filed it under the heading of increased competition at the game's most important position.

Fair enough. Competition in and of itself is not a bad thing.

But Brad Johnson, entering his second year as Tampa Bay's starting quarterback, knows not to put too much stock in what the Bucs say for public consumption. His then-employers used the same kind of vague, non-threatening language when Cunningham showed up in Minnesota in 1997, and when George arrived in Washington in 2000. We all know how those deals turned out. After all, what goes unspoken usually is more important.

True, after two consecutive 9-7 seasons of underachievement, the Bucs need to get better in several spots if they're serious about ever making that Super Bowl run. Adding to your veteran quarterback depth can be a shrewd move. Remember, the last three Super Bowl champions opened their preseason with one starting quarterback and finished the year with a different guy gripping the Lombardi Trophy.

But no matter how you dress up the rationale, the need for competition at quarterback generally implies that you're not completely satisfied with what you have on hand. Brad Johnson hasn't lasted 10 years in the NFL without being able to figure that out.

And he also knows this much: While he has never legitimately lost his starting job to anything other than injury since becoming the Vikings' No. 1 quarterback in 1996, unforeseen things have a way of happening in the NFL. Like Cunningham's monster 1998 season ending Johnson's days in Minnesota, and George's ballyhooed signing in 2000 paving the way for him to part ways with Washington.

Is Rob Johnson merely the latest verse of the same old song? On Monday afternoon, you can almost hear Brad Johnson shrug over the phone.

"I really haven't put much thought in it," said Brad Johnson, who in his six years as an NFL starter only twice (1999 and 2001) has both opened and finished his team's season No. 1 on the depth chart. "I'm not going to be defensive about it. It could be the same as the Ryan Leaf deal last year, just a move to get more insurance at quarterback.

"If Rob had signed a big deal, yeah, I'd be worried. But I don't feel I've been threatened. I don't think I've been given a vote of confidence. But I don't feel threatened. In the conversation I've had with Jon Gruden, he sounded real excited and said he was looking forward to working together."

In reality, chances are very good that Brad Johnson has never budged from the top position in Gruden's mental depth chart. Rob Johnson merely slides into the backup position, and Shaun King -- a former Bucs starter who had his brief reign ended by Brad Johnson last offseason -- becomes one of the more experienced No. 3 quarterbacks around.

Thus, Rob Johnson's signing is probably worse news for King than it is for Brad Johnson. But we just don't know for sure, do we? Not with Gruden being so purposely obtuse, mentioning more than once his desire to bring in a lot of arms and have them all fight it out this summer for the privilege of running his West Coast-style offense.

While Gruden in his debut news conference said King could make things "interesting" regarding the team's quarterback situation, he has yet to come out and say much of anything definitively about Brad Johnson. Other than he believes Johnson does some things better than his former quarterback, Oakland's Rich Gannon, and some things not.

Sound like a vote of confidence to you? Me either.

That said, financial considerations seem to tip in Brad Johnson's favor. As part of his five-year, $28 million contract signed in March 2001, the Bucs this month paid him a scheduled $2 million roster bonus March 1. If he really wasn't in Tampa Bay's 2002 plans, that shouldn't have ever happened.

Another positive sign will be if the Bucs approach him and ask him to restructure his contract in an attempt to free up cap room to re-sign running back Warrick Dunn. With a $3.5 million base salary in 2002, Johnson could move a good bit of that money into the later years of his deal, with the Bucs giving him another signing bonus for his trouble. By paying him even more cash up front, Tampa Bay would seemingly be tipping its long-term intentions.

Still, there are other possibilities to consider. Could it be the Bucs view Brad Johnson as their most valuable commodity on the trade market and will see if they can recoup some of those four high draft picks they sent to Oakland to obtain Gruden? Maybe a team like Cincinnati, Baltimore or Buffalo will get needy enough for a starting quarterback to give the Bucs a deal they can't refuse.

But right now, that scenario looks like the longest shot of all. To go along with it, you have to believe that Gruden would be comfortable going into this season with the oft-injured Rob Johnson as his starter, with King in reserve. That's roughly how Buffalo came to debut the Alex Van Pelt era late last season.

Some observers believe it more likely that King will be shopped around, for whatever return they could get on the second-round 1999 pick. Under that theory, Gruden was only hyping the product when he delivered those verbal bouquets King's way.

One other facet about the Johnson and Johnson debate seems curious. Some believe that Gruden has decided he can turn Rob Johnson into the next Gannon, thereby proving himself a quarterback-maker. But building the case that Rob Johnson can run Gruden's West Coast offense better than Brad Johnson is difficult if you look beneath the surface perceptions.

True, Rob Johnson is more mobile, or Gannon-like. But he's also the quarterback who took a sack on one out of every seven pass plays during his four years in Buffalo. All that pounding led to his many injuries.

While Brad Johnson will never run like Gannon, he moves around in the pocket well, makes quick decisions, and delivers the ball with pinpoint accuracy in the short passing game that Gruden so cherishes. Unlike Rob Johnson, Brad Johnson has never been criticized for holding the ball too long and hurting his team's chances. So which one sounds like the best fit now?

Of one thing, Brad Johnson is sure. As of Monday afternoon, he was still waiting for a Bucs official to call either him or his agent and tell him about the Rob Johnson signing and what the club is thinking at his position. He would like to know if he's in a dogfight for his job, and if so, when the competition officially begins. Barring that, it'd be great to hear he's still the club's future at quarterback.

Any communication at all about now would be appreciated. Until then, forgive the rest of us if we recognize the familiar storyline, and convince ourselves that we know how this one turns out.

Don Banks covers pro football for CNNSI.com.

 

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