Andy Reid quickly shuts down Derrick Johnson return idea

The Oakland Raiders released all-time Kansas City Chiefs leading tackler Derrick Johnson on Tuesday, and the immediate (and expected) reaction among some Chiefs fans was, “Let’s bring him back!”

Our own John Dixon drafted a piece on why that probably is not the answer to the Chiefs’ defensive struggles in 2018.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid was asked by the local Kansas City media about the prospect of bringing Johnson back on Wednesday.

“Brett (Veach) does all that stuff,” Reid explained, “but right now we haven’t really talked about that, so that’s as much as I know. As I stand here, that’s not the direction we’re going.”

In my opinion, this is Reid-speak for, “It ain’t happening.”

In late February of this year, Reid said that he’d welcome Johnson back as a coach. Johnson has expressed an interest in potentially coaching in the past.

“I thought about all of it,” Johnson explained, via Chiefs.com, back in 2017. “In high school, you’re teaching the fundamentals, trying to get them off to college. It’s also teaching them a little bit about life.

“In college, there’s the recruiting part of it, so it’s a year-around thing. In the NFL, it’s even more of a business—as far as getting hired and fired. I’ll definitely get into the coaching later on, not right when I get out, but I’ll set it up in the right way.”

Johnson went as far to say at that time he’d be interested in interning under Reid.

“I would,” he said. “This is a good atmosphere—a good platform.”

That could happen someday, but right now, I expect Johnson is looking for the right opportunity to continue his playing career. He said he wished to play for “several more years” back when he was released.