Fittipaldo: Steelers Final 6 Weeks Of Regular Season Could Determine Diontae Johnson's Future

The Pittsburgh Steelers are no stranger to dramatic wide receivers. Throughout the Mike Tomlin era, there have been numerous occasions when a dynamic pass catcher ended up forcing his way out of the organization due to unprofessional behavior. The most prominent example is none other than Antonio Brown. Most recently, both George Pickens and Diontae Johnson have brought negative attention to the locker room. Johnson had to apologize to his teammates after showing no effort on a play in Week 12 that featured Jaylen Warren coughing up the football to the Cincinnati Bengals defense. The lack of effort is becoming a serious issue.

The idea of the Steelers moving on from Johnson after the 2023 season has been kicked around. There is certainly precedent in the situations that have come up more than anyone would have liked since Tomlin became the head coach in 2007. Pittsburgh's wide receiver room is thin, however. Releasing Johnson may save some cap space, but he is clearly the best route runner and overall pass catcher on the offense.

Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wanted to chime in on the topic. He wrote an analysis piece regarding Johnson's potential future with the Steelers. According to the insider, it's all going to come down to how he performs on and off the field over the course of the final six weeks of the season and potentially into the playoffs.

"Whether Johnson joins [the past disgruntled wide receivers who were moved on from] likely depends on how he carries himself over the final six weeks of the regular season and the playoffs, if the Steelers make it," Fittipaldo wrote.

The challenge with a potential move is that the new top receiver in the locker room would be Pickens, who has proven that he has diva-like traits as well. There's no perfect answer, but Tomlin can't afford to let bad locker room guys hang around. 

Fittipaldo also brought up the history of this issue. It has consistently come up in the Steelers' building and there is more than one example of someone, the wide receiver position specifically, having an issue with how they are being used. Both on and off the field problems have come up, and way too many times since the 2007 season.

"After things became untenable with Antonio Brown late in the 2018 season, the Steelers traded him in the spring of 2019 to the Raiders for a third-round pick, a selection that coincidentally was used six weeks later on Johnson. One year earlier, they traded Martavis Bryant to the Raiders for a third-round pick. Eight years before that, only a year removed from catching the game-winning touchdown in Super Bowl XLIII, Santonio Holmes was dealt away to the Jets for a fifth-round pick."

If the franchise was willing to move on from a Super Bowl MVP just a year after his heroics in the big game, why would anyone question the possibility of Johnson playing in a different uniform come 2024? The disgruntled wideout only has 30 receptions for 385 yards in 2023, but he missed four games due to a hamstring injury that landed him on injured reserve.

He has a lot of money on the line entering the 2024 season. It's unlikely that the Steelers would just flat out release him. There are teams out there, like the Kansas City Chiefs for example, that are desperate for a game-changing receiver. There would certainly be value in a potential trade. The question becomes, is the front office comfortable enough with the current room, upcoming NFL Draft, and free agency opportunities to part ways with their best wide receiver?

Steelers Likely To Target Wide Receiver In 2024 NFL Draft Regardless Of Johnson's Status

If Pittsburgh decides not to move on from Johnson, Allen Robinson II is almost a lock to be released as a cap casualty because of his near-$12 million hit. That could lead to only three reliable wide receivers on the depth chart in Johnson, Pickens and Calvin Austin III. No one should be surprised if they enter the free agency market at the position as well as targeting a top prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Do you think the Steelers should move on from Johnson in 2024 if his disgruntled behavior continues? Let us know in the comments below!

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