Former Pittsburgh Steelers WR Diontae Johnson had the unfortunate reality in March of being traded to one of the worst teams in football. There was optimism around the league that the Carolina Panthers could turn things around, but that has not been the case with an abysmal 1-7 record. According to NFL insider Jordan Schultz on X, Diontae Johnson is firmly on the trading block.
It is important to note that he can’t be traded to the Steelers because of a little-known NFL rule that prevents players being traded back to their original team so soon after a trade was executed.
Johnson has appeared in seven games for the Panthers this season and he has caught 30 of his 58 targets for 357 yards and three touchdowns. His stats picked up once Andy Dalton was inserted in place of Bryce Young, but a recent car crash injured Dalton and forced the Panthers to turn back to Young.
The Steelers dealt Johnson during the first week of free agency in exchange for CB Donte Jackson and a late-round pick swap. It left the Steelers in a rough spot with their wide receiver room, but Jackson has been a great addition to the defense opposite Joey Porter Jr. Former Steelers CB Bryant McFadden recently stated there is “no question” that the Steelers won the trade.
That late-round pick swap included the Steelers getting a sixth-round pick in exchange for a seventh-round pick, so on top of the Steelers getting the better end of the deal in terms of players, they managed to extract some draft pick value too.
While Johnson won’t directly help the Steelers in this WR trade market, he could draw interest from other teams that need receiver help to thin out the herd for the Steelers. Though it does seem the options are extremely limited. New York Jets WR Mike Williams seems like the most likely target, but New York Giants WR Darius Slayton could potentially be available given the Giants’ poor record, and he just had a solid game against the Steelers on Monday Night Football.
