The Pittsburgh Steelers needed to make some major changes to the locker room in order to move on from a frustrating 2023 season. Matt Canada's offensive plan, entrusted to Kenny Pickett to run, never amounted to much and resulted in an offseason overhaul. Pickett's inability to consistently move the offense down the field increasingly brought out a side of Diontae Johnson that the franchise was not too pleased with.
Johnson was a polarizing figure in Pittsburgh. An extension awarded to him prior to the 2022 season included $27 million guaranteed, giving Johnson upper-tier money for the position. The ongoing on-and-off the field issues with the veteran however, proved not to be worth the headache. On Sirius XM NFL Radio Press Coverage, Ray Fittipaldo stated how Johnson's attitude and lack of leadership were what ultimately led to his exit from Pittsburgh.
"That's why they traded Diontae Johnson. They were kind of -- you know, he was an older guy, but he was still making a lot of youthful mistakes and not always acting his age or what was best for that receivers' room. You know, before Diontae Johnson, it was Antonio Brown, so it does go back two years... at least they got rid of Johnson, he was a big issue."
Johnson struggled to break through the elite receiver ceiling throughout his time in Pittsburgh. The former University of Toledo pass catcher saw a steady increase in his numbers in his first three seasons, with his best year coming in 2021, Ben Roethlisberger's final season in the NFL. A 2022 campaign that saw the receiver underwhelming with less than 1,000 yards, and without scoring a single touchdown.
With Pickett under center, Johnson began to regress, starting with that 2022 season void of scoring and bleeding into 2023 when his on-the-field issues began becoming more apparent. During a 2023 late-November game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Johnson's frustrations seem to hit a breaking point. After a Jaylen Warren fumble, Johnson appeared unbothered and didn't make an effort to recover the ball.
Antonio Brown is no stranger to controversy, which is why Fittipaldo brought that comparison in against Johnson's antics, but there is a big difference. Brown's issues were greatly overshadowed by the fact that he was widely considered the best receiver in the NFL during his most productive seasons. Johnson had mid-tier production at a consistent rate, outside of the scoreless 2022, but his on-the-field numbers did nothing to draw attention away from his attitude.
While the choice to compare Brown and Johnson seems a bit strained, Pittsburgh may have learned from the team's negative experiences with Brown and didn't want to create another distracting situation. As a result, Johnson is in Carolina, and cornerback Donte Jackson is in Pittsburgh. If Johnson truly wants to make that leap, his time in Carolina will have to be wildly better than with the Steelers, and that seems unlikely.
Steelers Trusting Their Receivers
With Johnson traded away to the Panthers, the burden falls onto George Pickens to prove that he really is worthy of the starting receiver spot. Since being selected by the Steelers in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, the former Georgia receiver has shown more ability than Johnson did in five seasons. With a mixture of unproven young players and veterans, Pickens will have every opportunity to put up elite NFL receiver numbers and prove Pittsburgh right in shipping Johnson away.
Younger pass catchers like Roman Wilson and Calvin Austin III will be out to make an impact every chance they get, and for Pickens to truly rise to the occasion, he will need a partner in crime. Van Jefferson brings NFL experience to the table, but never seems to find his footing among the receiving leaders of the league. The Steelers haven't made a big splashy move for another receiver, despite many believing it was coming, so it looks like Pickens will be the guy in 2023 with every chance to establish himself for the future.
