About a year ago, the Baltimore Ravens made what looked like a solid trade.
They acquired Diontae Johnson from the Carolina Panthers. It was a chance to boost their wide receiver group with a former AFC North star returning to the division.
Instead, Johnson quickly flamed out.
ESPN’s Bill Barnwell re-graded some trades on Tuesday, including this one that got Johnson for a mid-round pick upgrade to the Panthers.
Barnwell had originally given the Ravens an ‘A’ grade for the trade. He’s knocked that down to a ‘C.’
“What I didn’t know at the time was that Johnson was in the midst of flaming himself out of the league,” Barnwell writes. “After playing 39 snaps and having one reception for the Ravens, the team suspended him for a December game after he refused to enter the team’s contest against the Eagles. Later that month, the Ravens waived him. Johnson was then picked up by the Texans and played two games for them — including a wild-card win over the Chargers — and caught three passes. The Texans cut Johnson before the divisional round. He was claimed by the Ravens in an attempt to land a compensatory pick for him as a pending unrestricted free agent. He signed with the Browns this offseason but failed to make the team, despite Cleveland needing receiving talent.”
Barnwell goes on to write that the reason the grade isn’t lower is that the trade didn’t actually cost Baltimore very much.
The Ravens gave the Panthers a fifth-rounder but got a sixth-rounder in return. The Panthers traded Johnson away to move up just a single round in the draft.
So even though it didn’t work, Baltimore didn’t have a ton of reason for regret.
Johnson is now a free agent after the Browns released him in the preseason. His fall from starring for the Pittsburgh Steelers was a quick one.
