Will Chris Johnson be willing to take a pay cut in 2014? He says ‘No Way.’

Once someone is labeled as one of the best running backs in the league, there’s no way you can take that away from them. No matter how much they struggle.

Now the Tennessee Titans started off as a team that looked like they were going to be in the hunt for a Wild Card berth but have slowly went down hill. Despite rushing for nearly 1,000 yards on the year, some of it could also be placed on the back of Chris Johnson himself.

Being a play maker on this team, he was only able to record one 100 yard game this year. That game came against the St. Louis Rams where he picked up 150 rushing yards off 23 carries and two touchdowns on November 3rd.

Some would have thought that Johnson would be willing to take a pay cut in order to help the team out. But when he was interviewed by the Nashville Tennessean, he quickly shut that down.

"“No way. I don’t feel like it’s all my fault. It’s a team effort.” When asked if he would be willing to take a pay cut in 2014."

Johnson will make $8 million in 2015 and $7 million in 2016. A pay cut from the Titans would more than likely take his $8 million down to around $4 million and that $7 million down to around a $3.5 million mark.

C.J. still believes he can get back to his 2009 form where he rushed for over 2,000 yards. He said in an interview:

"“There’s not a doubt in my mind I can get back there. I have taken so many hits since I first got into the league, but I can still run in the 4.2’s, and I don’t know many guys six years in at running back who can say that.” Johnson told the Nashville Tennessean."

It’ll be interesting to see if the Titans will risk moving him in hopes of freeing up a little bit of money. This situation could get uglier during the off-season.