There are two lines of thinking regarding Pittsburgh Steelers wide receivers over the past 20 years. One is that they tend to acquire players who end up creating drama and chaos. Another is that they find diamonds in the rough and manage to bring out the best in them before letting them go.
This appears to be what happened with Diontae Johnson, who has bounced around the AFC since being traded in 2024, including a troubling stint with the Baltimore Ravens.
Diontae Johnson Breaks Silence on Ravens Fallout and Midseason Suspension
It is hard to deny that the Steelers know when to cut bait. They have done so with players like Johnson, Antonio Brown, Chase Claypool, and, most recently, George Pickens. While Pickens’ future with the Dallas Cowboys begins in 2025, the rest have not been as successful with their subsequent teams as they were in Pittsburgh.
Johnson seemed to be following that same track. His time with the Carolina Panthers was short-lived as they traded him to the Ravens. Baltimore waived him in December of 2024 but claimed him off waivers after he spent a few weeks with the Houston Texans.
Now with the Cleveland Browns, Johnson recently spoke about his time in Baltimore on “Sport and Suits,” answering questions about what went wrong during that first stint.
“Baltimore, that was a tough situation for me. I love the players, I love the organization, but it wasn’t for me. Going in, I checked out mentally. I just felt like I wasn’t getting used, I don’t wanna say used as being selfish, just feeling a part of the team. I just checked out,” Johnson admitted.
While Johnson’s time in Pittsburgh wasn’t smooth, he was consistently one of the team’s top receivers. Though he often got frustrated about a lack of targets, he never seemed to be “checked out.”
He has failed to make an impact on any of his recent teams. He only started one game for Baltimore, recording a single catch for six yards. Frustratingly enough, Johnson failed to do what he needed to help himself. That was evident in Pittsburgh and then again in Baltimore when he refused to play in their Week 13 game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Diontae Johnson has been suspended one game for refusing to enter the Ravens’ Week 12 game against Philly 😮 pic.twitter.com/IMEUuzQsXH
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 4, 2024
When asked why he wouldn’t play, Johnson complained about his workload. “I wasn’t getting into no run plays, no pass plays, no nothing. It was cold, so I’m on the sideline, just standing there, going to the heater, back and forth, waiting to hear my name called. End of the third, going into the fourth, they’re like, ‘Tae, we need you.'”
The former Pro Bowler wasn’t having it, “To me, I’m thinking, ‘I don’t think it’s a good idea for me.’ I was thinking about my legs. I don’t want to go out there and put bad things on film. It’s not like I didn’t want to go in the game. I told them I was going in.”
Johnson’s answer doesn’t make much sense, as he contradicts himself. Ultimately, the Ravens suspended Johnson for a week and then waived him.
At almost 29 years old, Johnson was not a highly sought-after free agent this offseason. He will try again with yet another AFC North rival team, and hope that the wildly dysfunctional quarterback situation in Cleveland helps keep this from being his last shot in the league.
