Steelers Get Ahead in Diontae Johnson Trade Return

Former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson had a brutal debut with the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, catching only two passes for 15 yards in a 47-10 blowout loss to the New Orleans Saints. It’s only one game, but that’s an eye-opening loss. It could be another long year in Carolina.

The Steelers acquired cornerback Donte Jackson in the Johnson trade package with Carolina in March, and so far, the return investment has been positive. In fact, Jackson got more yards on his 49-yard interception return against Atlanta than Johnson had receiving yards against the Saints. That’s a wild stat, but it’s a fact.

Jackson was also outstanding in coverage against the Falcons. Outside of a dropped interception and an illegal hands to the face penalty that negated a T.J. Watt strip sack, he had a banner day. He definitely made up for the dropped interception with the fourth-quarter pick and 49-yard return.

The Panthers will need more out of Johnson moving forward. In a behind the scenes video posted in May on the Panthers YouTube page, the vision for Johnson was revealed by offensive coordinator Brad Idzik

“I told (head coach) Dave [Canales], we need an X to start with. Where if they don’t respect him, he’s winning, they’re wrong. For us, that vision is you. We put you over there, they don’t have help on that corner, they f***** up,” Idzik said.

The Panthers probably had the worst wide receiver corps in the league last year. First overall pick Bryce Young was left out to dry in his first year in Carolina. That’s why Carolina traded with Pittsburgh for Johnson in March. They believe they have found their bona fide No. 1 wide receiver. Perhaps Sunday was just a Week 1 snafu by Carolina.

Johnson said in March that the Steelers did not want to trade him to an AFC team, and Carolina is where they ended up settling.

“I guess they didn’t want to trade me nowhere in the AFC. I’m here now in the NFC. It is what it is. They did what they feel they had to was best on their part. I couldn’t really do nothing about that. So I’m gonna make plays with whatever team I was on or got traded to. I’m here in Carolina, so I’m here to work,” Johnson said.

Johnson also revealed in April that the trade caught him off guard. He’s happy that he landed in Carolina, however.

“I was surprised [when the trade happened] but blessed at the same time, you know – fresh start somewhere,” Johnson said. “I had been in Pittsburgh for five years. Coming here, it’s different. Just still trying to get acclimated and I’m enjoying the process so far.”

There were reports that Johnson wanted out of Pittsburgh, but Mike Tomlin debunked that notion at the NFL owner’s meetings in March.

Tomlin said that a desire to upgrade the team’s cornerback position was the driving force behind the team trading Johnson to the Panthers, and that he did not specifically request a trade.

“Really, it was simple, man. We traded player for player,” Tomlin explained. “We had an opportunity to get D-Jack (Donte Jackson). D-Jack is a guy that we’ve evaluated probably several times since he’s been in the league, when he came out of LSU, when he faced free agency. We needed some assistance in depth and quality players at that position, so we made the move. They needed Diontae, we needed D-Jack. It was a good exchange.”