As expected, Andre Johnson returned to the Texans for OTAs on Thursday, ending his brief contract holdout.

Really, it wasn’t a holdout because the workouts are voluntary. He wanted to make a point that he’s underpaid (which he is) and now he’s ready to go back to work. Johnson is the ultimate professional and wouldn’t do anything to hurt his teammates, so it’s not surprising that he returned to practice after only missing a few days.

That said, the Texans still have a problem on their hands. Johnson is the best receiver in the league and despite the fact that he has five years remaining on his current contract, he’s vastly underpaid given what other wideouts are making around the league. He signed a team-friendly deal in 2007 and it would be wise for the Texans to give him a raise. Maybe they’ll wait until after the season to actually re-work his contract, but Johnson is showing good faith by showing up for workouts and the Texans should repay him by letting him know that they’re working on a new deal.

If they don’t, things could get much uglier in the future.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Wide receiver Andre Johnson skipped the start of the Texans’ organized team activities on Monday because he’s unhappy with his contract. With five years remaining on his current deal, he may have a tough time convincing Houston to up his pay grade.

Although Larry Fitzgerald certainly has a say in the discussion, Johnson is arguably the best receiver in the NFL. Yet his contract isn’t as lucrative as the one the Dolphins just gave Brandon Marshall or even the one the Cowboys signed the under-performing Roy Williams to a couple of years ago. So while he still has five years remaining on his current deal, there’s no question that Johnson is underpaid given his production value in the NFL.

The problem is that he doesn’t have much leverage. If he were to become a free agent at the end of the year, then the Texans would be more pressed to re-work his deal knowing that he could bolt once the season is over. But with five years remaining on his current contract, all he has is the threat of a holdout. Even though he’s their best player, the Texans could essentially say, “All right, you don’t want to play? Then you won’t get paid.”

Either way, this isn’t how the Texans wanted to kick off OTAs and holdouts can get awfully nasty between the team and the player. And if Johnson doesn’t show up for training camp, then the Texans really have a problem.

Photo from fOTOGLIF