Former Cincinnati Bengals running back Rudi Johnson wasn’t on the free agent market for long. After being released by the Bengals less than 48 hours ago, the Detroit Lions worked him out and signed him to a one-year deal. Rudi replaces Tatum Bell (who was released by Detroit today) as the number two running back on the Lions depth chart behind rookie starter Kevin Smith. My guess is the Lions will split carries between Kevin and Rudi in the popular platoon system. If Rudi can stay healthy, this is potentially a great find for the Lions. Kevin and Rudi should compliment each other well.

Source: MLive.com

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Detroit Lions Sign Rudi Johnson

Yesterday was cutdown day in the National Football League. Every team had to trim their roster to 53 players for the upcoming regular season. Here are a few of the notable names who were cutdown victims and who are now looking for gainful employment with another NFL team as soon as possible:

Rudi Johnson, Bengals; Chris Simms, Bucs; Joey Harrington, Falcons; Ashley Lelie, 49ers; Jerome McDougle, Eagles; Willie Anderson, Bengals; John Lynch, Patriots; Fernando Bryant, Patriots; Adam Archuleta, Raiders.

I was probably most surprised by the Bengals parting ways with Rudi Johnson. Rumors have been swirling the past couple weeks that Rudi was on the trading block, but I didn’t think the Bengals would just cut him loose. When no interesting trade offers developed for the Bengals, that’s exactly what they did — the team simply released him. Their reasoning was largely because of a nagging hamstring injury that forced Rudi to miss much of training camp. Head coach Marvin Lewis said:

“We haven’t seen Rudi play (in preseason). I’ve seen Rudi practice very few times, and cut it loose very few times. I thought he had an outstanding offseason. I thought he had a great spring and was doing everything, but unfortunately, he seemed to suffer from the hamstring.”

It goes to show just how short-lived the career of an NFL running back can be. From 2004-2006, Rudi played in every game and exceeded 1,300 yards rushing and had 12 touchdowns in each of those seasons. When he was limited to 11 games and just under 500 yards in an injury plagued 2007 season, little did he know his days with the Bengals were over.

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Cincinnati Bengals Rudi Johnson Among High-Profile NFL Roster Cutdown Victims