With the NFL Scouting Combine wrapping up and free agency fast approaching, we’re getting deep into some offseason rumors. The latest involves Pittsburgh Steelers WR Diontae Johnson, whom NFL insider Tony Pauline said the team might be interested in trading for the right price.
Now, The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly is adding more fuel to the fire. During an appearance on 93.7 The Fan’s Morning Show, Kaboly said Johnson may not want to be in Pittsburgh anymore.
“I’ve heard some stuff here and there. I’m not quite sure if it’s that. Put it this way, it might be the Steelers are looking to see who’s interested because, potentially, Diontae Johnson might not want to be here, either,” Kaboly said. “If you look at it, he’s in the final year of his deal, he’s probably not gonna get extended, he wants to make another big-money contract. And if he stays here as a lame-duck guy with a quarterback situation that’s kind of iffy, you’re not gonna make yourself any money right here.”
Kaboly said he believes Johnson might be pushing it more than the Steelers.
Putting the tea leaves together, the Steelers also met with a number of top receivers at the Combine. Wide receiver wasn’t thought to be a need early in the draft with George Pickens and Johnson, but if Johnson is unhappy and wants out, all of a sudden the Steelers have a massive need at receiver.
From Johnson’s perspective, the reasons Kaboly outlined for wanting a trade make some sense. He dealt with a hamstring injury in 2023 but he wasn’t super productive, and Pickens seemed to overtake him as the team’s top receiver option last season, although both had consistency problems. Johnson is entering the final season of his contract, and if the Steelers really aren’t likely to extend him, he may want to play out the last season of his deal with a team that could extend him. The quarterback situation being in flux doesn’t help either. Johnson probably wants to play somewhere where he knows who his quarterback will be and probably somewhere where he thinks he has more upside than another season with Kenny Pickett, who is currently Pittsburgh’s only quarterback under contract.
It’s an interesting possibility at this point in the offseason, and this morning Alex Kozora outlined why Pittsburgh might (and might not) trade Johnson. The fifth-year veteran already got one extension from the Steelers, and he hasn’t lived up to the contract over the last two seasons, though quarterback play and Matt Canada’s offense didn’t help matters, either. But with Pittsburgh’s interest in some of the draft’s top receivers, including Washington’s Rome Odunze, it’s not a move that should be ruled out.
Given that Johnson has a roster bonus of $3 million due on March 16, it’s a move that would happen within the next week and a half, if it happens. The Steelers are very unlikely to pay that bonus and then turn around and trade Johnson, so they’ll know in the early days of free agency and over a month ahead of the draft if receiver ends up being a need if they do in fact move Johnson.
