The Pittsburgh Steelers and wide receiver Diontae Johnson have come to an agreement on a two-year extension worth $36.71 million, NFL Network Insider Mike Garafolo reported Thursday.
Garafolo added that the extension includes $27 million guaranteed and that Johnson will earn $19 million in the first year of the deal. The team later announced Thursday that Johnson signed a new three-year contract.
Johnson’s new deal pays him top-20 WR money on an average-per-year basis and still allows him to hit the free-agent market again in 2025. A slew of recent, higher-end receiver extensions have been for three years or more.
According to Garafolo, the Steelers and Johnson’s camp worked through Wednesday night and Thursday morning to complete the negotiations. New Steelers general manager Omar Khan said Tuesday that he hoped Johnson, who had been sitting out practice during contract talks, would “be a Steeler for a long time.”
Two years might not be exactly that, but the Steelers secured a key piece for an offense that’s changing hands this season. Johnson posted career numbers in 2021 in catches (107), receiving yards (1,161) and TD catches (eight) after enduring a trying 2020 campaign during which he was beset by a slew of dropped passes.
The Steelers might have questions at quarterback, but their group of receivers appears very strong on paper. Even after letting Juju Smith-Schuster, Ray-Ray McCloud and James Washington walk in free agency, the Steelers bring back Chase Claypool and Johnson and have promising rookies in George Pickens and Calvin Austin III.
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