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The David Johnson “saga” and I use that word incredibly loosely, has an expiration date.
While the Arizona Cardinals get some light work in, the running back is, well no one is actually sure what he is doing, but he’s not with the team.
That will likely change sooner rather than later, but at the worst, Johnson will be in camp by August 7, 2018.
You see, since Johnson is still on his rookie contract, he has to have a certain amount of accrual time in order to hit free agency in 2019, and god forbid the contract dispute with the Cardinals goes on nearly another two months, well Johnson will miss getting a shot to enter free agency (unrestricted) if he is not in camp:
David Johnson's holdout should only last so long. Since he has 3 years of service for free agency (accrued seasons), he needs one more to be a UFA in 2019. If he doesn't report by August 7 (30 days before NFL's 1st regular season game), he won't get a 4th & will be a RFA in 2019.
— Joel Corry (@corryjoel) June 13, 2018
That would definitely be an even greater plot twist, but one unlikely to hit, as Steve Keim and Johnson’s agent, Jonathan Perzley, will likely have something figured out by then.
However, it is just another layer to add to the story and gives us a likely firm date to which we can end the David Johnson contract watch.