It's yet another wide receiver trade midseason as the Ravens make a splash for Panther wide receiver Diontae Johnson. The Ravens are trading their fifth-round pick for the Panthers sixth-round pick and Johnson.
The #Ravens are trading for #Panthers WR Diontae Johnson, sources tell me and @MikeGarafolo, as Baltimore loads up. pic.twitter.com/pZdx1ORPmd
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 29, 2024
Johnson, 28, will return to the AFC North after only spending half a season with the Panthers. In the seven games he played this season, he recorded 30 receptions for 357 yards and three touchdowns.
The Panthers acquired Johnson this offseason in a trade with the Steelers. The Panthers traded away cornerback Donte Jackson and a pick swap with the Steelers to acquire him. Johnson spent the first five years of his career in Pittsburgh, making the Pro Bowl once and the All-Pro Second Team once. Now, he heads to the Steelers main rival in their division.
Johnson was a third-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft out of Toledo. He improved statistically in each of his first three seasons, with his best season of his career coming in 2021, when he recorded 1,161 receiving yards on 107 receptions and eight touchdowns. Since then, Johnson has been a reliable target, but with constantly changing quarterback play, he hasn't been able to top those 2021 numbers.
Hard Knocks producers seeing the Diontae Johnson trade a week before filming starts for the AFC North in-season edition of the show pic.twitter.com/76nVJhZMHL
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) October 29, 2024
Johnson signed a two-year, $36.71 million extension in August of 2022, but the Steelers traded him away after the first year of his extension.
Johnson now moves from a 1-7 Panthers team competing for the first overall pick to a 5-3 Ravens team competing for a Super Bowl. The Ravens have long needed wide receiver help, and now, with a core of Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman, and Diontae Johnson, they might have just figured it out. Along with this now completed receiving core, defenses will still have to deal with Derrick Henry and studs Mark Andrews and Isaiah, Likely at tight end.
The Ravens are coming off a tough loss to a division rival, the Browns, losing 29-24. This loss put the Ravens one game behind the Steelers, who have the divisional lead at 6-2. The Ravens face off against the Steelers in Week 11, which will be the first time Johnson will play the team that drafted him and a significant game for the AFC North standings.
Johnson is now the fourth major wide receiver traded in the AFC this season. With the Jets acquiring DeVante Adams, the Bills acquiring Amari Cooper, the Chiefs acquiring DeAndre Hopkins, and now the Ravens acquiring Diontae Johnson. It is clear that all the AFC heavyweights are bulking up for the playoffs, and it will be interesting to see who comes out on top.
