Diontae Johnson looked like a star in the making for much of his first five years with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was the guy they drafted with the third-round pick they got for trading away Antonio Brown. He was supposed to be the replacement. Unfortunately, while he showed flashes of Brown’s talent on the field (2019 Second-Team All-Pro, 2021 Pro Bowler), it was Brown’s off-the-field antics that Johnson seemed to emulate more closely.
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His overblown view of himself led the Steelers to trade him to the Carolina Panthers ahead of the 2024 season. Then, within two and a half months, he was traded to the Ravens, waived, signed by the Texans, waived, re-signed by the Ravens, and waived again. He finally landed a one-year, $1.17 million deal with the Cleveland Browns in April.
And he may have lucked out in his landing spot. There aren’t many proven talents in that Browns locker room apart from him and established WR1 Jerry Jeudy. Now looking to start fresh, Johnson already seems to have a favorite in Cleveland’s four-man quarterback competition — an old Steelers teammate he’s confident will be throwing him the ball.
“I think they are going to roll with Kenny (Pickett) for right now,” Johnson said.
“I’ve been seeing Kenny going like right now with the ones. Then Joe [Flacco] will come in, I think they are probably going to roll with him just to see like, he’s coming off a season with Philly and having a Super Bowl. So, I think they are going to stick with him through the preseason. Then you know they can live with Joe and what he brings to the table.”
Pickett and Johnson played together from 2022 to 2023 in the Steel City. They connected for 95 receptions, 1,053 yards, and 1 TD during those tumultuous years in Western PA. Clearly, Pickett made a good impression on Johnson, and he continues to do so at Browns OTAs.
However, some fans strangely didn’t like Johnson speaking on the most interesting storyline in the NFL right now: Cleveland’s QB battle.
“Diontae should be worrying about whether he starts, or at this point stays on the roster lol,” said one salty Redditor. However, another fan threw back, “He’s talented enough to be the Browns WR2.”
Other fans were more surprised at the QB Johnson chose as the most likely to win the job. “A four-man QB battle royale ends with Kenny Pickett at the top, as we all expected,” said one. “It’s like the Mario Party meme where one player doesn’t move and everyone else falls off the cliff,” quipped another.
To be clear, barring any personal issues resurfacing, there is no way Diontae Johnson doesn’t make this Browns team. He’s comfortably in the top three with Jeudy and Cedric Tillman, and should easily pass Tillman on the depth chart if he focuses on football.
That one fan is probably just having a bad day, because why complain about insider info about the only intriguing developments across the league in late June?
This is one of the first Browns players to speak on the competition, and it changes perspectives on who Cleveland is leaning towards. Most pundits had Pickett as a likely roster cut for Cleveland, but his teammates believe he could be the guy come Week 1. Who are you going to believe?
