Pittsburgh Steelers Reportedly Didn’t Want to Trade WR Diontae Johnson to KC Chiefs

Despite some alleged dialogue with Kansas City, Pittsburgh opted against trading its talented wideout to the reigning champions for a specific reason.

The Kansas City Chiefs' need for a wide receiver or two this offseason is no secret. As of early Wednesday morning, however, general manager Brett Veach and company have yet to make an addition.

Apparently, it isn't due to a complete lack of effort. Kansas City reportedly had some level of interest in former Pittsburgh Steelers wideout Diontae Johnson, who ended up being traded on Tuesday evening. Johnson got sent to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for cornerback Donte Jackson and a Day Three NFL Draft pick swap, leaving the Chiefs in the dust.

There are a million reasons trades don't happen in the league, but one specific line of logic can be applied to the Chiefs and Steelers' dialogue on Johnson.

On Tuesday, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network took to the outlet's 'NFL Total Access' program to discuss the Johnson trade and its ramifications. According to the insider, Pittsburgh simply didn't want to deal with an intraconference contender. The two-time reigning champions, coming off yet another Super Bowl win, fit squarely into that category. 

"It was made clear to the rest of the league, basically, that Diontae Johnson was going to be available," Garafolo said. "He had permission, his agent did, Brad Cicala, recently to go seek a trade. They talked to a few teams. The Kansas City Chiefs, they had conversations with them at some point, but it didn't seem like they were going to trade him within the AFC to a contender if possible. So sending him to the NFC to the Carolina Panthers, who have been looking to add receivers via a trade since back to last year with the previous regime. Now they get one in Diontae Johnson, who just knows how to get open. He should be able to do that for Bryce Young, who didn't have that in his first year with a lot of his targets." 

To say Johnson would've helped the Chiefs is no understatement. He's in the athletic prime of his career at age 27, and perhaps his "worst" season came last year when he played in 13 games and hauled in 51 passes for 717 yards and five touchdowns. Compared to non-Rashee Rice Kansas City wideouts from 2023-24, those stats are glorious. 

Johnson's success against man-to-man coverage is something Kansas City needs to add to its receiver room. According to Pro Football Focus, of all receivers with 20% or more of maximum snaps played last season, Johnson's 3.18 yards per route run against man ranked 12th in all of football. He posted another top-15 mark in 2021. While not a big-bodied receiving target, Johnson is a quick separator and would've been a near-seamless fit in Andy Reid and Matt Nagy's offense. A group with him and Rice leading the way, on paper, looks drastically improved.

Alas, the Steelers are eyeing a trip to the postseason. With new quarterback Russell Wilson joining the franchise and head coach Mike Tomlin being one of the best in the league, the bar appears to be high for the upcoming campaign. It makes sense to not want to deal with an in-conference contender. In fact, it's something that gets brought up frequently in Chiefs circles regarding trade scenarios.

If Kansas City wants to get better at receiver, it may not stem from swapping with an AFC playoff hopeful. An NFC squad seems more likely to be willing to execute a trade with Veach. With that said, free agency and the draft are two suitable avenues for adding talent to the room. This offseason, the Chiefs are paying the cost of being the boss. If that example of a pseudo-trade tax for being a great team is real, they'll gladly take the trade-off.

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