On one hand, Diontae Johnson has put up big numbers for the Steelers in each of his three seasons. Last season, his 107 catches tied for fifth-most in the NFL. His 1,161 receiving yards ranked 10th.
On the other hand, Johnson's production dropped significantly late last season. He seemed to pout or maybe lose focus after he wasn't originally selected for the Pro Bowl. He averaged six catches for 41 yards in the final five games, including the playoff loss to Kansas City. He dropped passes. He had false start penalties. He ran the wrong patterns.
Will the real Diontae Johnson please stand up?
This is a topic today because NFL wide receivers are very much in the news. In a blockbuster deal last month, Tyreek Hill was traded by Kansas City to Miami and signed a four-year contract averaging $30 million. In another monster deal, Davante Adams was traded by Green Bay to Las Vegas and signed a five-year deal averaging $28 million. They will be the two highest-paid of the nine receivers who will make at least $20 million next season, according to spotrac.com. Stefon Diggs signed a four-year extension with Buffalo that will pay him an average of $24 million.
Other lesser wide receivers have signed big contracts during this offseason. Chris Godwin signed a new three-year deal with Tampa Bay for $20 million a year. Christian Kirk got $18 million a year over four years from Jacksonville.
Don't think for one second that Johnson and his agent haven't noticed.
Or that the Steelers haven't noticed, for that matter.
Johnson is going into the fourth and final year of his rookie contract and is due to make a base salary of $2.79 million in 2022. Of course he is looking for a lucrative extension and has a strong case to get one. His stats last season were better than those of Godwin and Kirk, for instance. His three-season numbers also compare favorably to the other receivers taken in the 2019 draft, including Marquise Brown, Deebo Samuel, A.J. Brown, DK Metcalf and Terry McLaurin. Johnson's 254 catches rank first among that group, his 2,764 receiving yards and 20 touchdown catches fourth. It should be noted Johnson reached those figures playing with a declining Ben Roethlisberger the past two seasons and with Mason Rudolph and Duck Hodges in 2019. He also did it in what was largely a dink-and-dunk offense.
If I'm Johnson, I'm thinking $20 million a year. That's as a starting point.
But if I'm the Steelers, I'm thinking no way. I'm looking at something less, maybe $15 million a year or even $17 million a year.
The two sides also must agree on guaranteed money. Johnson isn't going to get the $72.2 million guaranteed that Hill did or the $65.7 million guaranteed that Adams did. But would he be wrong to ask for the $40 million that Godwin received or the $37 million that Kirk got?
Clearly, Johnson is the Steelers' No. 1 wide receiver. They have only him, Chase Claypool and Miles Boykin, who was claimed off waivers from Baltimore on Tuesday, at the moment after losing JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Washington and Ray-Ray McCloud as free agents during the offseason. Surely, they will address the position early in the draft next week. They have done well drafting receivers over the years. Martavis Bryant, Emmanuel Sanders, Mike Wallace and Santonio Holmes immediately come to mind in addition to Johnson, Claypool and Smith-Schuster. They also landed the steal of steals — the incomparable Antonio Brown — in the sixth round in 2010.
But is Johnson among the top No. 1 receivers in the league? I'm not sure about that. Even if he is, I'm reluctant to pay exorbitant money to a player at his position. Wide receivers touch the ball, what, six or seven times a game, tops? I'm not going to pay $20 million a year for any receiver who doesn't have Brown's spectacular talent. I can't put Johnson in that category.
The Steelers are facing a couple of other contract issues this offseason. It seems a given they will make Minkah Fitzpatrick the highest-paid safety — or close to it — with an extension. They also must decide if they will pick up Devin Bush's fifth-year option, which figures to be worth about $10.9 million in 2023. Most observers think they will decline, but I'm not so sure. The team might believe Bush's bad season a year ago was because of the lingering effects of major knee surgery in October 2020. They also have invested heavily in him, starting with their trade to move up to No. 10 in the first round of the 2019 draft to get him. Remember, they picked up the fifth-year option on Bud Dupree before the 2018 season and took criticism for it before Dupree became a star in that fifth year in 2019.
But a new deal for Johnson might be more complicated than one for Bush.
Will Johnson show up for offseason work without an extension? Will he be a training-camp holdout, knowing it would be ridiculous for him to play for $2.79 million next season? After all of his mostly impressive production?
Stay tuned.
It should be an interesting summer.
