Would Cardinals Sign Diontae Johnson?

A new receiver is on the market as the Arizona Cardinals may look to upgrade their arsenal of pass-catchers for quarterback Kyler Murray to target.

The Houston Texans have waived wide receiver Diontae Johnson ahead of their AFC Divisional postseason tilt with the Kansas City Chiefs this weekend.

With slot receiver Greg Dortch entering the offseason as a restricted free agent, Arizona may look to upgrade the position.

Johnson - who just completed a stint with his fourth team in the last 12 months - is an immensely talented receiver who (from a talent perspective) could fill the WR3 shoes nicely in Arizona under Marvin Harrison Jr. and Michael Wilson.

Johnson previously earned All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors in the past, and there's still gas left in the tank for the 28-year-old.

The only problem? There's a reason he's searching for his fifth team.

"Following the Texans' wild-card playoff victory over the Los Angeles Chargers last Saturday, Johnson was visibly upset in the locker room. He was fully dressed sitting at his locker staring in frustration because of a lack of playing time and targets," said ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter.

Johnson's attitude problems have notoriously followed him since his days with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who made him a third-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.

The Steelers eventually had enough of Johnson, shipping him to the Carolina Panthers this past offseason before more problems ensued. Carolina traded Johnson to the Baltimore Ravens in late October, and soon after Johnson was suspended by the organization before ultimately being released.

The Texans claimed Johnson off waivers on Dec. 23, and less than a month later Houston decided they had enough problems.

The talent is there for Johnson, and perhaps that's part of his frustration in not getting the football on a routine basis.

Pittsburgh Steelers on SI publisher Noah Strackbein offered this when asked if he would sign Johnson:

"From the time Diontae Johnson left Pittsburgh to today, the journey has been wild. Even if Johnson had issues with the Steelers, which he certainly did, no one could’ve expected this," said Strackbein.

"I’ll say this, Diontae is a very good receiver. He’s one of the best route runners in the league and has Pro Bowl potential when he’s on the field. But this season, he’s struggled to get on the field and for some reason, has become a player teams don’t want around.

"He was always a player who made negative headlines, but also a player who seemed to own his issues and try to correct them. Maybe that is now gone, or maybe his issues are getting more common. If that’s the case, maybe it’s another case of Pittsburgh being able to tame a player who isn’t able to be tamed elsewhere."

Would the Cardinals even entertain Johnson coming to the desert?

Culture has been a buzzword in Arizona since the moment head coach Jonathan Gannon walked through the doors, as the Cardinals have preached - and preached - and preached about consistently getting the right guys in the locker room.

And for good reason. Teams can't hit their ceilings if the foundation is wobbly.

“I think we've been intentional in our mind what we want the Arizona Cardinals players to look like," Gannon told reporters at his final press conference of 2024.

"Monti, myself, (Owner) Michael (Bidwill), the coaches and Monti’s staff. I think that we've done a really good job of acquiring guys that are kind of like-minded about how they go about their business. I think the more guys you have like that the respect level is there, the accountability level is there, and those guys typically connect with each other very easily. ... We've got a lot of high character guys that put the team in front of themselves.”

That doesn't exactly describe Johnson as of late, and the Cardinals haven't exactly proven themselves to be a foster home for disgruntled players.

If Johnson isn't currently happy about his targets, playing second fiddle to the names ahead of him in Arizona (on top of tight end Trey McBride) doesn't sound like a winning formula for either side.

While surely talented, Johnson seems like a far-fetched idea for the Cardinals to bring in.