When it came time for the Pittsburgh Steelers to move on from wide receiver Diontae Johnson, they reportedly didn’t want to trade him within the AFC, instead shipping him to the Carolina Panthers.
In a rather fitting move Tuesday though, the Panthers flipped Johnson — who spent five seasons with the Steelers — back to the AFC North, trading him to the Baltimore Ravens, setting up two matchups against his old team down the stretch, matchups that Johnson is looking forward to.
For Steelers team captain and star defensive lineman Cameron Heyward, he’s looking forward to playing his old teammate, especially after the trade added even more juice to the rivalry matchup.
“You know, it’s funny. On Twitter, everybody’s like, ‘We need to trade for Diontae Johnson.’ There is a rule in place where you cannot trade back to the team you’ve already been traded from in that current season, and so we knew that wasn’t gonna happen. But man, he had to go to the dark side,” Heyward on the latest episode of his Not Just Football with Cam Heyward podcast, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “We just got some guys off that team in Patrick Queen and DeShon Elliott that are happy to be in Pittsburgh. Now we got him going to Baltimore? I definitely think it opens up their offense. I think it does a great job of spreading the ball around. Diontae can create that separation that they’re looking for, and then you pair him with [Rashod] Bateman, Zay Flowers, Mark Andrews, Isaiah Likely, and then that run game, man.
“I think Lamar [Jackson’s] got his choice of where he wants to throw the ball. It’s gonna be nice for him to have another option and looking forward to playing those guys in a couple weeks.”
Landing a proven receiver like Johnson, while surprising considering the needs on defense, was a great move for the Ravens, who gave up just a fifth-round pick in a pick-swap to land the veteran receiver.
In just eight games in Carolina, Johnson had 30 receptions for 357 yards and three touchdowns. He reportedly wasn’t long for Carolina in a relationship between player and team that was a “failure to launch” according to one report following the trade.
Now, Johnson goes from a 1-7 team to a Super Bowl contender with an MVP-candidate quarterback, which is the epitome of an outhouse-to-penthouse move.
“I’m sure ‘Tae packed up so quick that he left a bunch of stuff at home. Like, I’m sure Tae made sure to…he jumped on the first plane as soon as they told him,” Heyward joked of Johnson. “You know, I’m probably sure he did the Davante Adams where he was already in Baltimore at the time. So, I know Tae’s happy about this situation.”
He should be, too. He goes from one of the most dysfunctional, poorly run franchises in the NFL in the Panthers to another model of stability in the Ravens, something he was familiar with in Pittsburgh.
Johnson is landing in a very good offense, too, and should be rather productive for the Ravens catching passes from Jackson schemed up in coordinator Todd Monken’s offense.
The Steelers will get their first look at Johnson in the Purple and Black in Week 11, which is scheduled for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Acrisure Stadium.
Check out the full episode of the Not Just Football with Cam Heyward podcast below.
