Chris Johnson's contract that calls for him to earn $8 million in salary this year clearly has been an obstacle to him staying in Tennessee. But even if the contract wasn't an issue the Titans probably would want to purge Johnson. The reason? New coach Ken Whisenhunt likes to spread around playing time and touches between multiple running backs. His plan is to have a running back by committee. Johnson is the type of player who demands the football and never would be happy as a role player. A trade or release, subsequently, is coming.
Whisenhunt ran the Chargers' offense last season, so it's conceivable that he plans to use Shonn Greene in the Ryan Mathews role and Dexter McCluster in the Danny Woodhead role.