The Cardinals locked up left tackle Paris Johnson through the 2027 season by exercising their $19 million option on his contract, but that hasn’t stopped him from starting to think about his next long-term contract.
Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com reported in June that Johnson wants to be “a $40 million-per-year left tackle,” but Commanders tackle Laremy Tunsil is currently at the top of the market with an average annual salary of just over $30 million and that would make for the kind of jump that one rarely sees in the NFL. Johnson was asked about that comment during an appearance on the PHNX Cardinals podcast and explained that “it’s not me thinking about getting the money, per se,” but about the frame of mind he wants to be in while facing pass rushers who are making that kind of money.
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“When I started speaking on that, the question was more about how you would grade an elite tackle and how you start to measure yourself as an elite tackle,” Johnson said. “My answer was exactly this: when I watch tape, when I go to practice and when I play in a game, my mindset is to be the $40 million man. When I watch my tape, I ask myself, ‘Would you pay this guy $40 million?’ That’s how I watch my tape. That’s how I go out to practice. That’s how I play. Because the guy I’m lining up against, if he’s worth something, he’s worth at least $35 million to $50 million. Now, the tackle market isn’t there. The tackle market usually goes up by about one million over the next guy, and that’s just what it is. The D-linemen are not going for that. That’s another conversation. But my mindset is that elite guys who are rushing the quarterback — that’s what the market is for them. And I believe it takes an equivalent-level player to shut that guy down. So I’m not going out there thinking, ‘Pay me $28 million or $28.5 million.'”
Myles Garrett was added to the list of pass rushers that Johnson will have to tangle with in 2026 and shutting those opponents down probably won’t get Johnson to $40 million, but it would make a strong case for moving closer to the top of the list for tackles when his next contract is finalized.
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