When the Tennessee Titans picked up Chris Johnson's $10 million salary in February, it appeared the running back would remain the centerpiece of the offense for another season.
The addition of Shonn Greene in free agency had logic, given the different styles in which the two backs played. Johnson would be the primary back and home run threat; Greene the between-the-tackles bruiser who could finish from in close.
It all made sense, at least until Titans coach Mike Munchak offered his vision for the backfield Tuesday at the NFL Annual Meeting in Phoenix. Munchak raved about Greene's talents (odd in itself if you watched him with the New York Jets). Munchak also made it sound like Greene will have a substantial role.
"I know as a (former) line coach myself that we haven't had a guy like that in a while," Munchak said of Greene, according to Alex Marvez of FoxSports.com. "He reminds me of the Eddie George days -- a guy that can fall forward, a guy that's physical, a guy that can understand his role.
"We're not going to have him as a short-yardage back, a goal-line back and four-minute back and that's all he does. We feel he can play all three downs. He may get a series where he gets going and we're taking over the line of scrimmage and you want that runner in there and we leave him in there."
Let's say Munchak backs up these comments and installs Greene in a role in which he's legitimately eating into Johnson's workload. If that's the plan, why did they keep the lavishly paid Johnson in the first place?
Follow Dan Hanzus on Twitter @DanHanzus.
