David Johnson was never far from the Saints' radar, even if it took an extended plane ride to get him here.
Johnson, who still lives in Houston, dealt with a 3-hour wait on his plane due to mechanical issues. He finally arrived with his new team at 10 p.m. Tuesday evening, roughly 5 months removed from an offseason tryout that didn't result in a deal. That changed this week, with the veteran signing to the Saints practice squad.
The former Cardinals and Texans running back was keeping his options open, he said. The team wanted to keep him around, but they couldn't agree on a deal.
"[I was] just waiting for the right opportunity, something that fits me, the offense that fits me," Johnson said, "the personnel, the coaching, the winning culture."
It's a timely pairing for a team that's struggled to run the ball the past two weeks and is still trying to make up for the absence of veteran Mark Ingram, who suffered a knee injury in Week 7 and was expected to miss up to four weeks. The Saints have turned to Dwayne Washington and Jordan Howard in Ingram's absence, but neither proved to be effective. Howard was cut from the practice squad this week ahead of Johnson's signing.
Much like Howard, it's likely Johnson will be elevated from the practice squad this week, assuming he's learned enough of the playbook, if not outright signed to the active roster.
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"We liked what we saw in the summer. At that point in time he wanted to kind of see what his options were. And he was a guy that we continued to have on our radar," Saints head coach Dennis Allen said. "He's big, he's fast, he's athletic. He's made some plays in this league and he's smart and so he's a guy that we we kind of had our eye on and I think it was at this point that he was ready to come in and sign up on the practice squad, and so we're happy that we got him in here."
How quickly he can acclimate is the biggest question. Johnson has had to learn new systems multiple times before, and is confident he can do so again. He can also lean on Ingram if need be, someone Johnson mentioned by name as a reason he was drawn to New Orleans. He and Ingram were teammates with the Texans in 2020. That could be important because, while he was in town for a few days earlier this season, he didn't get much of the playbook during that stretch. It was very much just a tryout.
Johnson's arrival does bring a bit of star power and expectations, even if those are slightly unrealistic. He was the architect of one of the greatest running back seasons in NFL history back in 2016 as a member of the Arizona Cardinals. He rushed for 1,239 yards and 16 touchdowns on 293 carries while also catching 80 passes for another 879 yards and 4 touchdowns. During that time he also put together some of the most impressive highlight reel footage you'll find. His effectiveness waned after that season, however. In the five years since he's totaled 2,204 rushing yards and 15 TDs, along with 1,422 receiving yards and another 10 TDs.
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That dual-threat ability is something he feels he can bring with him to New Orleans, and the team's usage of Alvin Kamara in a similar respect was an element that he saw as a major positive in this pairing. If they need him to split out wide and catch passes, that's quite all right with DJ.
"Everyone knows how they use Alvin in a great way of not just running the ball and getting, you know, physically beat up that way," Johnson said. "You know, they split him out wide, he runs a lot of free routes. And so that's one of the things that really drove me to sign here."
It took half the season, but Johnson has a new home in New Orleans. The 6-1, 224-pound back will be expected to contribute in the same way as Howard and Latavius Murray before him. How long will he last in that role? Time will tell.
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