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In a move that comes a no surprise whatsoever, the Tennessee Titans have officially announced the release of Chris Johnson. The 28-year old Johnson, who staked his claim to NFL and fantasy football stardom with a 2,000 yard campaign in his second season, rushed for 7,965 yards and 50 touchdowns for Tennessee, who drafted him in the first round of the 2008 draft.

“As an organization, we want to thank Chris for his contributions to the Titans. Chris produced many memorable moments, broke franchise records and was durable over his six year career with our team,” Titans G.M. Ruston Webster said in a statement issued by the club on Friday.

“We have had an open dialogue with Chris’ agent, Joel Segal, over the last few weeks, and we appreciate the patience and professionalism they have shown throughout this process. We made an effort to trade Chris but were unable to do so. We wish Chris the best and thank him for the six seasons he spent with us.”

The real issue at hand was financial. Johnson was set to make $8 million in 2014 under his old contract. But recent production had fallen off, too.

Johnson slipped to a career-low 3.9 yards per carry in 2013, with 1,077 yards and six touchdowns. Given that, Johnson's value on the open market is unclear. As Profootballtalk.com's Mike Florio notes, at a time when lesser players have gotten $3.5 million per year, it could be a challenge for Johnson to get much more than that.

Still, as NFL.com's Gregg Rosenthal suggests, that doesn't mean he's without value. "He's easily the most durable starter in the league," Rosenthal wrote, "with the only missed game of his career coming in his rookie season. He touches the ball at least 300 times a year, and stays on the field. That's rare."

While it's hard to imagine another team giving Johnson that kind of workload going forward, there will be suitors.

The Jets interest in Johnson has been widely reported in recent weeks and FOXSports.com's Mike Garafolo is now reporting the Cowboys and Giants are also interested.

Rosenthal believes Johnson would fit best on a team that shares the workload. But nobody is looking for a true featured back at this point. Johnson could join forces with Chris Ivory in New York or DeMarco Murray in Dallas. The Giants recently signed Rashad Jennings and hope David Wilson returns.

Worth noting, Johnson still has to prove he's ready to play. He only began running on March 24, his first work since having surgery in January to repair a torn meniscus. It was the first surgery of his six-year career. "I feel good … I expect to be back and stronger than ever," he said. "I think I will probably come back even faster. ..."

We'll see. He'll certainly need that. As Rosenthal put it: "[Johnson] doesn't break tackles and increasingly struggled to make defenders miss in the open field. He can still run a straight line very fast, but there aren't many straight lines available in the NFL."

So yes, speed will be an issue. ...

Meanwhile, the Titans will turn to Shonn Greene as their starter, but head coach Ken Whisenhunt prefers a committee approach. Greene will play the lead role and newly acquired Dexter McCluster and Jackie Battle will contribute.

Which brings up another point about Johnson and his future. As BleacherReport.com's Dan Pompei noted this week, "Johnson is the type of player who demands the football and never would be happy as a role player."

We'll see if that outlook changes along with Johnson's employment status and job search.