The Pittsburgh Steelers made a widely criticized choice this offseason, electing to move on from veteran WR Diontae Johnson — the team’s leading receiver from 2020 to 2022 — in exchange for Carolina Panthers cornerback Donte Jackson and a late pick swap.
Despite plenty of traits that made Jackson special (and the fact that HC Mike Tomlin had been interested in bringing his skills to Pittsburgh for years), fans were left wondering what GM Omar Khan was thinking, sending out a key piece of the receiving corps without a contingency plan in place. Johnson, a former third-round pick (one of the two picks acquired in the trade of Antonio Brown to Las Vegas), was coming off his fifth season with the black and gold, having averaged just over nine targets per game over the past four seasons.