Panthers adding new offensive weapon in blockbuster trade with Steelers

The Diontae Johnson trade rumors will indeed produce a deal, and for the second straight day, the Panthers are involved in a big trade. The Steelers are sending the veteran wide receiver to Carolina, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports.

One season remains on Johnson’s contract, with Schefter adding the Panthers will now pay the sixth-year receiver’s $3M roster bonus due later this week. After five Steelers seasons, the shifty route-runner will settle in as a Bryce Young weapon.

The full trade will involve cornerback Donte Jackson coming back to the Steelers, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero reports. Carolina will send Jackson and a sixth-round pick for Johnson and a seventh.

A report earlier this month indicated the Panthers would move on from Jackson, via trade or release; Carolina has found a trade partner. After rumblings of a Johnson deal surfaced as well, the two will end up being exchanged.

For the Panthers, this provides Young with a proven wide receiver. The Panthers were light here last season, contributing to the steep freefall. Johnson will now join Adam Thielen atop the Carolina aerial pecking order. As Thielen is going into his age-34 season, this trade will provide a player in his prime for Young to target.

Heading into his age-28 season, Johnson has not been the most consistent receiver. Drops have plagued the elusive target, whose effort level has also come into question in Pittsburgh. But Johnson will be playing for a big contract in 2024. The Steelers gave the Toledo alum a two-year, $36.7M extension just before the 2022 season. That deal fell short of the market set by fellow 2019 Day 2 picks A.J. Brown, Terry McLaurin, Deebo Samuel and D.K. Metcalf, but Johnson’s production has checked in south of those standouts’. He has still shown a consistent ability to create separation, doing so almost entirely with limited QB play. Johnson’s presence will help the Panthers determine Young’s value as a pro.

Johnson totaled 1,161 yards in 2021, Ben Roethlisberger‘s final season, and exceeded 850 yards in 2020 and ’22. Last season, the Steelers’ Kenny Pickett–Mitchell Trubisky–Mason Rudolph platter struggled for the most part. Johnson also missed four games due to a hamstring injury, coming in with 717 receiving yards and five touchdowns — after he memorably failed to score in 2022.

This will leave the Steelers with George Pickens leading the way at receiver, though it should be expected the AFC North club will target another starter-caliber wideout in a deep draft at the position. Johnson is one of many Day 2 wideouts the modern Steelers have turned into long-term starters. Pittsburgh broke with its usual tradition of these players leaving during or after their rookie contracts by extending Johnson, but after trading Chase Claypool and then executing this swap — and then cutting Allen Robinson — Pittsburgh will need to give Pickett (or, more likely, Russell Wilson) more help.

The Panthers also gave Jackson a second contract, re-signing the boundary corner in 2022. He is due a $4M roster bonus March 16; these teams are trading picks, players and bonus obligations. One year remains on Jackson’s pact, a three-year, $35.18MM deal signed after the expiration of his rookie contract. The former second-rounder has spent his entire six-year career in Carolina, but he was due to count $15.72M against the cap in 2024.

Coming back from a 2022 Achilles tear, the 28-year-old corner also had a down 2023 in coverage. The former second-round pick allowed three touchdowns as the nearest defender and surrendering an opposing passer rating of 107.7. Pro Football Focus graded Jackson just outside the top 60 at corner, though he has shown better form in the past. The Steelers, who released Patrick Peterson last week, will see if Jackson can become a fit opposite Joey Porter Jr.