Calvin Johnson said he was watching "SportsCenter" with a friend when news of the New Orleans Saints' bounty program broke earlier this month.

“I didn’t think anything of it when I heard it,” Johnson said today at his news conference to announce a new, eight-year contract. “I was watching 'SportsCenter' with one of my boys -- he plays ball, too -- and we were like, ‘That’s part of the game. It’s nothing new.’”

Johnson said he has felt targeted in games before but said, “I don’t know,” when asked whether he thought the Saints targeted him in their two games this season.

“I remember there was some talk around there, but I don’t really pay too much attention to it. I just go play,” he said.

Days before their January playoff meeting, former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who’s accused of administering and contributing to the team’s bounty pool in 2009-11, talked of defending the 6-foot-5 Johnson and his team’s aggressive style of play.

“Guys that are 6-5 end up being 5-5 when they get flipped over on their head,” Williams told nola.com. “They didn't say the rule says the ground couldn't hurt their head. So we've got to find ways to make the ground be a part of it. You know, we won't make helmet-to-helmet contact."

Johnson was asked whether he ever has received money for delivering a big block in his five seasons with the Lions.

“We used to do that, but now it’s just expected out of us,” he said. “Our coach Shawn (Jefferson), all that’s expected from us. He keeps it tough on us, but they expect greatness out of us.”

Other topics of note:

• Johnson said the Achilles tendinitis that kept him out of the Pro Bowl is “healing up,” and he’s taking part in his normal off-season training routine.

“The main reason for not playing (in the Pro Bowl) was just to give myself the time, because the off-season goes so fast that we’re right back into it, and you don’t want to come into the off-season with anything nagging,” he said. “I just wanted to get out of that, just so I could have anything clear up.”

• While agent Bus Cook handled the negotiating, Johnson said his mother, Arica, was by his side when his record contract was finalized around midnight Tuesday.

"Bless my mom," Johnson said. "My mom's everything for me. She takes care of so many things for me when I can't be there, especially in Atlanta, with my foundation and things like that. Last night got pretty hectic, because we were trying to get things done before midnight and trying to get things sent over.

"It got kind of hectic on the phone because we were trying to get these papers shuffled around. I hear (Lions president) Tom Lewand (on one end of the phone), I hear Bus on one end of the phone. We had a little three- or four-way (call) going. She was with me in the room. It was interesting. I was just sitting there, shaking my head 'cause there was a lot of drama going on."

• So what's Johnson going to do with his new wealth?

“I’m smart," he said. "I’m going to invest it."