Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson is upset with his current role with the team and feels as though he is "wasting his prime" with the current way that the Titans have used him.
Johnson, who is set to make $8 million in 2014, told the Tennessean that he will be worth the money he is making if the team would just use him properly going forward.
"No disrespect, I love Tennessee and would love to be in Tennessee," Johnson told The Tennessean. "But I feel like I am wasting the prime years of my career if I am not used right. You feel me? It is crazy to look at backs around the league and see the opportunities they have."
Johnson ran for the second-lowest total of his career this past season by rushing for 1,077 yards on just 279 carries. In 2009, he rushed for a franchise-record 2,006 yards on 358 carries. He also had 14 touchdowns in 2009 compared to just six this season.
Perhaps the firing of Mike Munchak on Monday will lead to a change in the way the team uses Johnson, as his 279 carries in 2013 were the highest total amount of carries he's had in the team's three seasons with Munchak. Johnson carried the ball 262 times in 2011 and 276 times in 2012.
"I am not a coach, and I am not a GM," Johnson told The Tennessean. "But if I am paying a player to make him the top-paid guy on the team, there is no way in critical situations that he is going to be on the sideline. Around the goal line, I'd come out."
Johnson, who split his carries with import Shonn Greene this past season, is a three-time Pro Bowler and said that while he hasn't requested a trade, he would be open to one if another team would use him in a bigger role.
"I feel like if they are not going to use me the way I am supposed to be used and let me be the horse, then I would rather them let me move on," Johnson, 28, told the paper. "Their money would be wasted on me. I feel like if they are not going to use me right, let somebody get me that's going to use me the right way."
The Titans haven't made the postseason since 2008 and finished 7-9 in 2013, missing the playoffs for the fifth straight year. Johnson, who has been with the Titans for his entire six-year career, has 7,965 career rushing yards on 1,742 carries with 50 touchdowns. He believes that the team can find its winning ways again and finish with a winning record for the first time since 2011 if they give him the ball more often in 2014.
"I want to help the team win," Johnson told the paper. "People say, 'He is not worth the $10 million, he is not worth the $8 million.' I feel like if you give me $8 million, let me earn it. At crucial times of the game, I shouldn't be on the sideline watching."
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