Steve Keim's weekly conversation on the "Doug and Wolf" show was abbreviated thanks to cell phone issues. Mostly, there was conversation about David Johnson's new contract, and the relief in getting it done. Keim was at UCLA, after going to the University of Washington Thursday for some scouting.
"We started in the spring time and the conversations were constant, that's for sure," Keim said of the Johnson negotiations. "Michael (Bidwill) did a fantastic job.
"There's no doubt in my mind David wanted to be a Cardinal. That's the great thing about what we have developed as an organization."
According to overthecap.com, Johnson got a $12 million signing bonus and guarantees of his base salaries this year ($1.8 million), 2019 ($5.7M) and part of 2020 ($5.1M of a $10.2M salary). He has a $7.95M salary for 2021. The 2020 salary fully guarantees in March of 2020 if Johnson is still on the roster, as does $2M of the 2021 salary in March of 2021. Those are set up to allow Johnson to go to free agency if the Cardinals decide to move on. Obviously, the idea is that Johnson will be spending a long career in Arizona, and in theory, he'll be getting another contract.
"I think it helps in the locker room when you send a message that you reward your players who perform," Keim said. "Whether it has been Chandler Jones or Pat Peterson or Larry Fitzgerald or Carson Palmer. But at the end of the day, it takes two sides, and we all know it's been difficult at times. But it's been a great process for us."
-- Before Keim got off, he was able to answer one question about last week's loss. "It's the little things," he said. "It's the attention to detail. It's the mental busts, or little things like tackling or the physicality. Those were the things that were disappointing to me. From a defensive standpoint, we were in a tough position, where we got behind quickly and offensively, I thought we could've run the football effectively. We put ourselves in a tough spot. This week, Coach put an emphasis on those things and I think you'll see some improvement this week."
