CLEVELAND, Ohio — Pro Bowl receiver Diontae Johnson knows that he’s running out of chances in the NFL, and that he’s got a golden opportunity to save his career with the Browns, ‘the only team that hit me up.’
Not only were the Browns the only team that reached out to Johnson in the offseason after four teams ushered him out the door last year, they gave him the veteran minimum of $1.170 million for one last chance to remain in the league.
It’s a far cry from what some of his friends in the NFL are making these days, such as Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase at $40.25 million, Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson at $35 million, Dallas’ CeeDee Lamb at $34 million, and Pittsburgh’s DK Metcalf at $33 million.
It might sound far-fetched for Johnson, 28, to be in that salary stratosphere, but he was right up there with some of them in the 2021 league stats when he made the Pro Bowl as a third-year pro. That season, he caught 107 passes for 1,161 yards and 8 TDs. The year before, he caught 88 passes for 923 yard and 7 TDs — the kind of numbers that earn a receiver upwards of $30 million-a-year these days.
It’s where Johnson might be right now had he not embarked on his tumultuous trip around the NFL last season, in which he wore out his welcome with the Steelers, Panthers, Ravens and Texans, getting traded by the first two and waived by the latter two. His brief stints were characterized by losing his cool when he didn’t get the ball enough, or things didn’t go his way.
But he believes he was misunderstood along the way, and is determined to flip the script.
“I don’t like to speak on a lot of stuff so I just, everybody’s going to have their opinions,” he said. “At the end of the day I’m the only one in that room that really knows what’s going on. I can only go off of what I know and then try to put out my best effort. But last year is last year. I’m trying to turn and change that narrative and move the right way and just keep going.”
What will it look like if he’s getting it right?
“Just play, instead of just thinking about all the other stuff,” he said. “Just play. Make the most of my opportunities when I get in, cheer my teammates on, be a great teammate, stuff like that.”
Besides, he’d much rather be remembered for his Pro Bowl season of 2021, or his second-team All-Pro season as a rookie punt returner in 2019, then his one seemingly flaked-out year, in which he’s been portrayed as a headcase of the highest proportions.
“One bad year,” Johnson said. “It’s one year. I had five great seasons in Pittsburgh. I had one year, that doesn’t define me as a player, none of that, my character or none of that. So like I said, everybody’s going to say what they want to say about me, but I know who I am as a person deep down and that’s all that matters to me.”
If he keeps his head down and works hard, he knows he can get his Pro Bowl career back on track and make up for the lost time — and money.
“Just be myself and prove everybody wrong,” he said. “That’s my mindset. Keep going. Don’t worry about the outside noise. Worry about what goes on between these gates. That’s it.”
But given the fact that he feels he was misunderstood and miscast last season, he doesn’t feel compelled to take any drastic measures to change himself.
“No, just come in here with a great attitude,” he said. “Be a great teammate. Be on time and stuff. Do what I’ve got to do and, like I said, the rest is going to take care of itself. Football is football end of the day. Once we get in between the lines, that’s all it’s about.”
One thing working in his favor is that Browns GM Andrew Berry, who’s known for rescuing players with baggage off the scrapheap, liked him coming out of Toledo in 2019, where the Steelers grabbed him in the third round. Berry often comes back to his faves to give them another chance, and Johnson shared what he had to give.
“What I bring to the table, how I’m going to move forward and stuff like that,” Johnson said. “I feel like I’m doing the right things right now. Just moving forward.”
He had another ally in the building in quarterback Kenny Pickett, who put in a good word for him despite Johnson calling for Mason Rudolph to start at the end of 2023.
“I feel like (Pickett) was probably a part of me coming here and whatnot and just like our relationship goes back to Pittsburgh,” Johnson said. “We’ve got a good relationship. We probably haven’t talked like we normally did before, but (we did) when he reached out.”
Pickett, who played with Johnson in 2022 and 2023 before he was trade to the Eagles last season, spent time between reps with Johnson on Tuesday, helping to get up to speed in the new offense.
“Just help him any way I can,” Pickett, currently QB1 in the four-way quarterback, said. “I was talking to him a lot today in the field in the two-minute period, going through the play calls with him where he would be if he was at Z or X or F and kind of talking him through each play. So he’s working really hard at it. It’s great to have him here and I know that he’s going to continue to do that.”
Pickett didn’t follow the bouncing Johnson last season as he landed with team after team.
“Honestly I didn’t really know what was going on,” Pickett said. “I tried to stay off everything during the season, but listen, I’m really happy that he’s here. I think he can really help us, the things that he can do with his route running and ability. So it’s good to have him here.”
Pickett knows firsthand that Johnson can cut on a dime and juke a cornerback right out of his cleats.
“One-on-one, he gets separation,” Pickett said. “I think he does a really good job of getting separation at the line at the top of his routes. In and out of cuts I think is probably his biggest strength. He gets in and out really well, so a lot of those third down, possession-down route running, which you need to be precise at, I think he can bring that.”
Johnson, who will likely primarily work in the slot, is so good at route-running, he’s right up there with one of the best in the business in Jerry Jeudy, his fellow native Floridian. If the two of them are on the field together?
“It’s really pick your poison where you want to go to or whatnot,” Johnson said. “So just getting open really is going to determine that.”
Those former Florida high school players are a different breed, and stick together. They finish each other’s sentences, and are usually faster and more athletic than most of their peers.
“He’s able to beat man coverage and get open in zone,” Johnson said. “I’m familiar with Jerry though, so he’s from Florida too. But like I said, he’s a weapon to have, a good guy to have on the other side. Whoever’s on the opposite side, whether it’s a me or whoever it is, it gives them a chance to get one-on-one opportunities and stuff like that. So like I said, that’s what he brings to the table.”
Johnson (5-10, 183) raised some eyebrows locally when he skipped the six organized team activities practices over the previous two weeks. It would’ve been the perfect opportunity for him to get a jump on the install, get to know his teammates, and get some camaraderie down with the quarterbacks, especially in this four-way competition.
“Yes, I had a coach,” he said. “So we’re all good.”
Besides, he spent a week here early on in the offseason program, and knows a few other players besides Pickett.
“I’ve got a good relationship with Deshaun Watson, Kenny Pickett, Shedeur (Sanders),” Johnson said. “So if I need a question or something I can always call or whatever it is. It’s not like I don’t know what I’m doing. I’ve got the playbook and stuff like that and I can study at home, so I’m on top of my stuff too.”
Participating in voluntary OTAs would’ve been the smart play for Johnson, but now it’s about him proving he can still be the best version of himself from here on out.
“I’m still in that form,” he said. “It’s just a matter whenever I get my opportunities and be able to put it on film.”
The Browns already know all about Johnson from playing against him for those five years when he was in Pittsburgh. Ironically, he caught only one TD against them in eight meetings (32 of 70 targets, 394 yards). But the Browns 48-37 wild card playoff victory over the Steelers after the 2020 season, he caught 11 of 16 targets from Ben Roethlisberger for 117 yards.
It’s that kind of production he believes he can bring to the Browns.
“Just another weapon to the receiver room, offense, make plays,” he said. “Could be a help to the young guys and stuff like that. Really just trying to be myself, get back to where I left at and just like I say, made the most of my opportunities whenever they come put it on film. That’s really my main focus.”
Was he surprised no other teams reached out?
“The NFL is a business,” he said. “I don’t have any control over that. The Brown’s called and I’m happy to be here and that’s all I’m worried about.”
Johnson is especially eager to face two of the teams twice that gave up on him last year in the Steelers and Ravens.
“Yeah, yeah,” he said. “You know that. I’m looking forward to them, for sure.”
With the Browns not drafting any receivers or signing any big-name ones in free agency, Johnson can surprise all of his critics and remove himself from the endangered receivers list if he can keep his head on straight.
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