On showing up to training camp: "Come on," he said. "Did you really think I wouldn't come?"

On Carson Palmer and hitting big numbers: "He looked at film and looked at the things we missed on from Week 1 to Week 16 and he said 1,800 (yards) was reachable if we're perfect. Of course, Carson and I were off on plays we usually clicked. We left a lot of plays on the field. We talked about what he and I need to do starting in July. We have a lot of work to do."

Brilliant move by Palmer. Appeal to Johnson's need for stats to get him in line. I wouldn't be surprised if he said something like, "Think about the money you can make once I get you 1,800 yards."

My favorite part of this interview is that Johnson admits how poorly he played last year. Even though the numbers were there, he was inconsistent and reportedly blew a lot of assignments. He is expected to be ready for the start of training camp after "minor" ankle surgery, so he'll have some time to fine tune.

"I wasn't right. I wasn't technical enough. Nowhere near as sound as I have been. For what a (multi) Pro Bowl veteran should be. I was very inconsistent. ... I played very poorly. Coach Brat is probably the only person who can get in my face and tell me that. Or Carson," Johnson said.

"I look at it and say, 'Damn, I did this. I did that,' " he said. "But that's not what he's looking for. He's not looking at the numbers. He's looking at the times I was inconsistent. Even if I do mess up, I should be able to make a play. But I couldn't with the screwups I was making."

Johnson admits that he was doing his best to get booted: "I did everything under the sun to get out of here. I acted psycho. I posed my case. I talked with my owner, who loves me dearly. He must. Those offers were unheard of. And he still said no. Really, I'm not that good."

Johnson claims that his offseason problems weren't about money, which I don't believe. But he also is beginning to realize that he can make the most money by producing.

"We have a bigger issue here. Money will take care of itself. If I go out and continue to be way above here, then it's going to have to happen."

Music to Fantasy Nation's ears. We are people that only deal in numbers, not personalities. And Johnson is properly in position to get his usual top-10 numbers, if not better.