NFLPA re-elects DeMaurice Smith as executive director

The NFL Players Association re-elected DeMaurice Smith as its executive director in a Sunday night meeting in Maui. It will be Smith’s third term as the labor organization’s leader.

Smith held off eight challengers for the position, none of whom came close to dethroning him.

Former NFL player Sean Gilbert certainly had the most unorthodox proposal for election. Gilbert proposed that the union rip up the current collective bargaining agreement, which lasts until 2021, by taking up the owners’ proposal for an 18-game regular season schedule. Gilbert also argued that the league’s funding rule for full guaranteed contracts constitutes a collusion violation, and that he would file a claim that would also help terminate the current CBA.

Gilbert’s election ploy built on an 18-game schedule evidently went over as well as a politician promising higher taxes.

Smith was originally elected head of the union in 2009, and won re-election in 2012. The Bills were the only team not to have a player representative voting in this year’s election. The 31 player reps in attendance voted for Smith on the first ballot.

Michael Johnson returns to Bengals

Darrelle Revis wasn’t the only NFL free agent to prove you can go home again this week.

Defensive end Michael Johnson is returning to Cincinnati after spending the past season with Tampa Bay – though that’s where any comparison to Revis begins and ends.

Johnson, who played for the Bengals from 2009-13, was a stud in 2012, leading the team with 11.5 sacks and earning a franchise tag.

Once Johnson started getting paid, his production started nose-diving. Though he led all Bengals defensive linemen with 33 tackles in 2013, his sack total dipped down to 3.5. He managed 4 sacks in 13 starts for Tampa last season before being released last week.

Coach Marvin Lewis seems to be convinced the Bengals will get Johnson in his premium form.

“Our entire organization is just ecstatic about getting Mike back,” Lewis said. “He’s earned tremendous respect from coaches, teammates and management. He did tremendous things for us while he was here, and we look forward to having him blend back in and uplift us as defensive football team.”

Vikings release receiver Greg Jennings

Perhaps Randall Cobb was paying close attention to the career trajectory of Greg Jennings when he took less money to remain a Packer.

Jennings, who bolted Green Bay for Minnesota after the 2012 season, was released by the Vikings after two underwhelming seasons. Jennings was made expendable after the Vikings finalized a trade to land Mike Wallace from the Dolphins.

Jennings, who signed a five-year, $45 million deal with the Vikings, caught 127 passes for 1,546 yards and 10 touchdowns in his two seasons. To be fair to Jennings, competent would be high-end praise for the quarterbacks he played with outside of rookie Teddy Bridgewater, who gets to see his career potentially bloom with the addition of a legit downfield threat in Wallace.