It seems destined that Pittsburgh drafts and develops some incredible wide receiver talent just to see them leave these days. Throughout their history, receivers like Mike Wallace, Plaxico Burress, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Santonio Holmes, Chase Claypool, and Emmanuel Sanders all play their way out of Pittsburgh in some way or another after impressing throughout their rookie deals. Even complementary receivers like Nate Washington, James Washington, Martavis Bryant, and Markus Wheaton show flashes during their time in Pittsburgh that earn them contracts elsewhere. Diontae Johnson may be next in line to join that list.
According to Dianna Russini of The Athletic, the Steelers are reportedly “open to listening to trade offers” on their five-year veteran wideout. After playing out his rookie contract as a third-round pick out of Toledo, Johnson signed a two-year, $36.71M extension. He played through the first year of that deal last season, meaning 2024 will be a contract year for the 27-year-old.
In the final year of his contract, Johnson is due to receive $10M of cash, a $7M base salary, and a $3M roster bonus. With $5.83M of his initial signing bonus attributed to the 2024 season, he will represent a cap hit of $15.83M. If the team were to find a trade partner, they would be able to free up $10M of that salary cap space, eating the $5.83M they already paid him as dead money.
A down year in 2023 and only five touchdowns in the past two years may have soured the public on Johnson after a career year in 2021, but Johnson has still been consistent enough to place himself firmly in Pittsburgh’s history. His 4,363 receiving yards in black and yellow is good for the ninth-most in the franchise’s history, surpassing all the names listed above. Despite his recent scoring drought, his 25 career receiving touchdowns rank 11th all-time for the Steelers.
There’s sure to be interest in Johnson around the league. His consistency has appeared in his availability over the years. Before missing four games this past season, Johnson had only missed two in his career. His lowest receiving total of 680 yards came in his rookie season, and he’s shown that he can get into the endzone up to seven or eight times a year. Teams desperate for a WR1 or extremely interested in a strong WR2 will likely contact Pittsburgh for a price check.
As for the Steelers, if Johnson comes in, it will be next man up, as usual. George Pickens seems to have taken the reins of the receiving corps with a stellar sophomore season. They’ve got some young, inexperienced depth in Calvin Austin and Dez Fitzpatrick and some veteran reserve players like Marquez Callaway, Miles Boykin, and Denzel Mims. However, they will probably want to add to the room to support Pickens. While they may take a peek at free agency or trades, like they did last year with Allen Robinson, they’re just as likely to stick to their usual modus operandi and find a new pass catcher in the draft.
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