D’Ernest Johnson: ‘Something special’ is brewing in Jacksonville

It took the Jacksonville Jaguars more than a week to do it, but the team finally made its first free agent addition official Thursday when running back D’Ernest Johnson signed a contract with the team.

Johnson, 27, is a Florida native who spent the last four seasons with the Cleveland Browns. While he said the chance to come back to his home state was part of the motivation for his deal with the Jaguars, he’s also excited to join a team on the rise.

“They’ve got something special going on here, and I want to be a part of it,” Johnson told Jaguars.com after signing his new deal Thursday. “They’ve got a great offense, great quarterback, great wide receivers and a great running back in Travis Etienne. It’s a great team.”

In four years with the Browns, Johnson only got 172 touches, but averaged 5.2 yards per carry and had 967 yards from scrimmage. In Jacksonville, he’ll compete with JaMycal Hasty and Snoop Conner for the second spot on the depth chart behind Etienne.

After missing his entire rookie year due to a foot injury, Etienne finished the 2022 season with 1,125 rushing yards and averaged 5.1 yards per carry. Hasty stepped into the change-of-pace back role following the trade of James Robinson and averaged 4.2 yards per carry on 46 attempts.

The Jaguars finished the year 10th in the NFL in yards per attempt (4.7).