If you didn’t hear the news, the Cardinals traded for Adrian Peterson. To create room for Peterson’s arrival, someone had to go on the 53 man roster. That, unfortunately, was Chris Johnson, the Cardinals starting running back. Johnson hasn’t been running like his former 2,000-yard rushing season self, but cutting a starting running back is an oddity in its own right.
Adam Schefter of ESPN was the first to report the news of Johnson’s departure:
To make room for RB Adrian Peterson, Cardinals released RB Chris Johnson. The two RBs connected in past connected again in different way.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 10, 2017
The Cardinals currently have the worst rushing attack in the NFL with 259 on the entire season. Arizona hasn’t just been bad, they are only averaging 2.6 yards per attempt. Things clearly weren’t going well as the team has been unable to put out a quality runner since David Johnson landed on injured reserve.
Then again, Peterson hasn’t been great either. Peterson has rushed for 81 yards on the season carrying a 3 yard per rush clip. Johnson has actually rushed for more yards on the season with 114. If Peterson continues to show he is washed up, Andre Ellington and Kerwynn Williams are the other options on the roster.
