The Minnesota Vikings are hunting the NFL landscape for a starting-caliber wide receiver to fill in for Jordan Addison, who will miss the first three games of the season due to a suspension from the league for off-field misconduct.
Jalen Nailor, Minnesota’s WR3 entering training camp, is week-to-week with a hand injury and remains questionable for the team’s Week 1 opener at Soldier Field against the Chicago Bears on Monday night, September 8.
The circumstances mean that second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who will take his first regular-season snap as a professional less than two weeks from now, could be down two of his top three targets in the receivers room come opening night. It helps that the one he’s likely to have at his disposal is Justin Jefferson, perhaps the best pass-catcher in the sport, but Jefferson has also missed extensive preseason work due to a hamstring injury.
Thus, Minnesota’s pursuit of a reunion trade with the Carolina Panthers that would bring Adam Thielen back to his hometown team, as well as other calls around the league to gauge the availability of potential difference-makers in the pass game.
However, as cutdown day arrived a handful of options began popping up across the league. One such opportunity involves former Pro Bowler (2021) and former second-team All Pro (2019) Diontae Johnson, whom the Cleveland Browns released on Tuesday, August 26.
Diontae Johnson Has Been Trending Downward Over Past 3 NFL Seasons
GettyFormer Cleveland Browns wide receiver Diontae Johnson.
Should Minnesota add Johnson, it wouldn’t really be fair to call him a steal regardless of the nominal price the Vikings would likely have to pay to sign him. The Browns, for instance, inked Johnson to a one-year contract worth $1.17 million that included zero guaranteed money before parting ways with the wideout Tuesday.
The reason Johnson’s value has dipped so significantly is because his production began to inexplicably crater following a career year in 2021, during which he tallied 107 catches for 1,161 yards and eight TDs as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He regressed in each of the two seasons following that campaign both in terms of catches and receiving yards, and scored zero touchdowns in the 2022 season.
That said, Johnson was still a starting-caliber wideout in 2022 and 2023, averaging nearly 70 catches and almost 800 yards receiving on the nose across those two years. But then things went off the rails for the receiver in 2024.
Johnson played for three different franchises last year: the Panthers (seven games), Baltimore Ravens (four games) and Houston Texans (one game). He produced totals of 33 receptions for 375 yards and three TDs in easily the worst season of his career.
Diontae Johnson Represents Low-Risk, High-Upside Play for Vikings at Wide Receiver
GettyFormer Cleveland Browns wide receiver Diontae Johnson.
At 29 years old, Johnson is entering his seventh NFL season and just failed to hang on with the Browns through cutdown day — arguably the worst franchise in the league, with inarguably one of the least experienced and least talented groups of pass-catchers.
None of this sounds like a ringing endorsement for a player with regards to any team, particularly one like Minnesota that won 14 games last season, has a young quarterback who is about to become a starter for the first time and holds legitimate Super Bowl aspirations.
However, there is the Kevin O’Connell factor to consider, which combined with the team culture the new regime has built over the past three years could provide a player like Johnson with obvious talent a chance to rehabilitate his career in a meaningful way.
As a member of the Vikings, Johnson would have the chance to start the season as high as WR2 depending on Nailor’s health and how that position battle played out.
Even upon Addison’s return, Johnson would be in the mix for WR3 and real work in an offense that could be among the league’s best yet again in 2025 if McCarthy proves himself even an average/slightly-above-average quarterback.
Minnesota’s risk in signing Johnson would be low, and the upside arguably significant. Not to mention, the team wouldn’t have to fork over a draft asset to land some different receiver whose 2024 campaign was no better (and perhaps meaningfully less productive) than any of Johnson’s first five years in the league between 2019-23.
Vikings Landing Spot for Former All-Pro WR to Fill Jordan Addison Void