Duke Johnson still wants out of Cleveland.
The Browns running back said he still wants to be traded, but also gave more details about how his original request to be dealt came to be.
"My trade request was to meet them at a middle ground," Johnson told reporters Tuesday, via the Cleveland Plain-Dealer. "I was put on the trade block a month before I requested a trade."
#Browns Duke Johnson said he still wants to be traded pic.twitter.com/HPg2P7Aach
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) June 4, 2019
News that Johnson wanted to be traded first came out in April after the team signed recently cut Chiefs running back and 2017 Pro Bowl player Kareem Hunt.
Coach Freddie Kitchens minced no words Tuesday when asked about the unhappy running back (via NFL Network): "He wants to be traded. I want to win the lottery. It doesn’t matter. He’s under contract. He’s a Cleveland Brown. He’s going to be used to the best of his ability in what benefits the team.”
Browns general manager John Dorsey consistently has said publicly that the team will not deal Johnson, but if the running back is to be believed, it was Cleveland that wanted to move him first.
Johnson said the news made him feel "unwanted."
However, he said he is happy to be traded if it's best for the team.
"I was put on the trade block to kind of see what the team could get," he said. "And I mean, at the end of the day, I understand the nature of the business, I understand his job, John Dorsey's job, is to do what's best for the team and the organization.
"And again, if that's getting rid of me for a bigger piece, for a better piece, then I'm OK with it."
Johnson played in 16 games with the Browns last season (four starts) and rushed for 201 yards while catching 47 passes for 429 yards and three touchdowns.