Ravens Acquire Former Steelers Pro Bowl WR: Report

Wide receiver Diontae Johnson will return to the AFC North after all. But rather than the Pittsburgh Steelers, Johnson is joining the Baltimore Ravens.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported on October 29 that the Ravens acquired Johnson in a trade from the Carolina Panthers.

Rapoport and NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported Baltimore sent a 2025 fifth-round pick to Carolina. In return, the Ravens received Johnson and a sixth-round choice.

The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Johnson in the third round at No. 66 overall in the 2019 NFL draft. Over five seasons, he posted 391 receptions, 4,363 receiving yards and 25 touchdowns with Pittsburgh.

During Ben Roethlisberger’s final season in 2021, Johnson registered career bests of 107 catches, 1,161 receiving yards and 8 touchdowns. Johnson made the Pro Bowl that season.

This year, the 28-year-old wideout had 30 receptions, 357 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns in seven games for the Panthers.

Diontae Johnson Finishing Second Contract With Ravens

October 29 marked the second time Johnson had been traded in a little more than six months. The Steelers sent him to the Carolina Panthers for cornerback Donte Jackson.

Pittsburgh received criticism for the trade when it happened during the first week of NFL free agency. The Steelers didn’t receive any draft compensation in the deal.

Johnson played well at times for Carolina this season, but judging by what Carolina received in return for the veteran wideout, Johnson’s trade value plummeted over the past six months.

Jackson has started all eight games and played well for the Steelers this season. In March, Carolina gave him up for Johnson. Half a season later, Carolina only improved a single Day 3 pick by one round in exchange for Johnson.

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Part of why the Ravens probably landed the receiver so cheaply is because he’s a rental player. The 2-year, $36.7 million extension Johnson signed with the Steelers expires in March.

While a short-term solution, Johnson should be a nice addition to the Ravens offense, which has been starving for more playmaking wide receivers for years. Baltimore has that now with Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman, but Johnson gives MVP candidate quarterback Lamar Jackson yet another target.

Flowers leads the Ravens with 41 catches and 527 receiving yards. Bateman is averaging 19.2 yards per reception this season.

The Ravens sit at 5-3 and in second place behind the Steelers in the AFC North.

Should the Steelers Have Pursued Trade for Johnson?

Since trading Johnson, pundits have connected the Steelers to multiple other receivers on the trade market. They also drafted Roman Wilson in the third round to try and help fill the void Johnson left.

None of that has worked, though, so some analysts floated the possibility this season of the Steelers re-acquiring Johnson from the Panthers. In that situation, Pittsburgh could have used its own former draft pick as a rental receiver.

However, under league rules, NFL teams are not permitted to reacquire a player they have traded for two years.

On September 30, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport posted a photo of the league rulebook as confirmation. In the picture, the rulebook read, “a player who has been traded cannot return to the club that took such action until two seasons have elapsed, including the season of the year in which he left the club.”

The two exceptions to the rule apply to traded players who are then waived or released by the team he was traded to.

Therefore, the only way for the Steelers to have reacquired Johnson was if Carolina released or waived him.

The Steelers didn’t have a chance to reacquire Johnson. Instead, he landed in Baltimore, and the Steelers are left still searching for their own wide receiver move.