The Pittsburgh Steelers and Carolina Panthers made a Dionte Johnson for Donte Jackson trade in the rare NFL player-for-player deal. The two franchises also included a pick swap with the Steelers getting a sixth-round pick back for their star wide receiver while the Panthers got a seventh-rounder while sending out their cornerback. Here are the Panthers-Steelers trade grades for this transaction.
The Panthers make a Diontae Johnson trade
Last season was an abject disaster for the Panthers after they made a massive move in the 2023 NFL Draft to move up to No. 1 to take Alabama quarterback Bryce Young. The signal-caller struggled mightily as a rookie, and the team went 2-15, securing the 2024 top pick for the Chicago Bears.
Young finished the season as the 35th-ranked QB in PFF’s grades (56.0), only ahead of Bailey Zappe, Mac Jones, and Desmond Ridder.
There were several issues for Young, including being the second-most-sacked QB (62 behind Sam Howell with 65) and having the second-worst completion percentage (59.8 percent in front of Will Levis at 58.4 percent).
That second problem was due in large part to the young signal-caller’s lack of receiving options.
His 33-year-old favorite target, Adam Thielen, did have 1,014 receiving yards, but the next two top Panthers pass-catchers were DJ Chark with 525 yards and Jonathan Mingo with 418 yards.
For Young to improve in his sophomore season, the Panthers needed to improve its WR room, and without a first-round pick, college stars like Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers, and Rome Odunze are off the table.
This Diontae Johnson trade addresses the team’s biggest offensive issue while only giving up a player who the Panthers would likely have cut anyway.
Johnson was a 2019 third-round pick of the Steelers who put up 391 catches for 4,363 receiving yards and 25 touchdowns. With Ben Roethlisberger, Johnson made second-team All-Pro as a rookie and had a Pro Bowl 1,161-yard season in 2021.
He struggled at times with Kenny Pickett, Mitchell Trubisky, and Mason Rudolph throwing him the ball in 2022 and 2023 but still managed 882 and 717 yards, respectively in those two campaigns.
Despite his production struggles at times this season, he was still the No. 25-ranked WR in the NFL, per PFF, with a 77.9 grade.
His biggest problem — and likely the biggest reason the Steelers made this trade — was his obvious lack of effort caught on tape multiple times this season.
Steelers should have this on the jumbotron at Acrisure Stadium playing on a loop today… pic.twitter.com/9Smdk0O92K
— Matt Koll (@MKoll15) March 13, 2024
Carolina has to hope that a change of scenery will give Johnson a reboot, and he will go back to being the player he was early in his career. To get a top-25 wideout for a player who the Panthers didn’t seem to want anyway is a great deal.
GRADE: A
The Steelers get CB Donte Jackson in return
Mike Tomlin and the Steelers were obviously over Diontae Johnson’s antics, which is why they made this trade. On talent alone, the wideout is worth a lot more than Pittsburgh got. However, his maddening lack of effort seemed to have rubbed off on up-and-coming star George Pickens, so this is addition by subtraction in a lot of ways.
If Johnson was still a Pro Bowl WR or the Steelers didn’t also have to deal with Pickens’ diva behavior, maybe keeping Johnson would make sense. That said, too many bad apples spoil the bunch, and Tomlin decided Johnson was more of a headache than he was worth.
As for Donte Jackson, the Steelers addressed one of their offseason needs by adding a cornerback.
Currently, Pittsburgh has Joey Porter Jr. under contract and a bunch of unproven youngsters, but Patrick Peterson, Levi Wallace, and Chandon Sullivan are all free agents this offseason.
Is Jackson as good as these free agents? Over his career, probably not. However, last season his PFF grade was 64.3, good for 63rd-best in the NFL. That was tied with Porter and better than Sullivan (60.4), Peterson (58.9), and Wallace (57.9).
In the end, the Steelers got rid of a problem and got back a player at a position of need (plus moved up a few spots in the draft), so that’s good. It is just a tough pill for Pittsburgh fans to swallow for those who still think Johnson has the potential to be a star in the league.
GRADE: B
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