Derrick Johnson chose Oakland Raiders over other interested teams

The idea that Derrick Johnson simply went to the only team that had any real interest in him is not true after all, if recent reports are correct.

This might be a bit of a game-changer for some forgiving fans in Chiefs Kingdom. Former Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Derrick Johnson signed with the Oakland Raiders last week in a surprising move that is still shocking for many given how beloved he was at Arrowhead Stadium. But now a new report from James Palmer is emerging that says that DJ might have actually chose the Raiders over others.

That also makes this even more difficult to watch:

The previous narrative around Johnson’s signing with the Raiders sounded a bit more desperate, a veteran player getting one last gasp of interest from a team overly focused on veteran players. In fact, even the story that came out of Oakland about DJ’s meeting with new Raiders coach Jon Gruden was seemingly about two figures who have been written off joining forces to show everyone up. Alas that is not true, or at least not nearly as much as it was made out to be.

Instead, if Johnson decided to eschew the overtures of other teams in order to suit up in silver and black, that’s going to be a troubling anecdote in a career that bled red and gold since 2005. Fans who were quite forgiving for a veteran simply wanting to extend his career in any way possible might take back any positive sentiments toward DJ if they know he could have signed elsewhere than with a division rival.