Diontae Johnson's 2024 couldn't have been much worse.
The former Pittsburgh Steelers receiver bounced around to three teams, with drama and lack of production following him at each stop. In the first seven games of the season, Johnson led the Carolina Panthers with 30 catches for 357 yards and three touchdowns. Then came a midseason trade to the Baltimore Ravens, where things went sideways.
Johnson played in just four games with the Ravens, catching a single pass for six yards. The lack of opportunities led to a tiff, which included a refusal to play against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 13, inducing a one-game suspension and an eventual release.
After landing with the Cleveland Browns this season, Johnson is out to change the perception.
"I don't want to speak on a lot of stuff," Johnson said Wednesday, via ESPN's Daniel Oyefusi. "Everybody's going to have their opinions, you know what I'm saying? So at the end of the day, I'm the only one in that room that really know what's going on. They're entitled to their own opinion, so I can only go off of what I know and then try to go off what I put out there and my best effort. But like I said, last year is last year. I'm trying to change that narrative and move the right way and keep going."
Once a clear-cut No. 1 in Pittsburgh, owning the ability to win on the boundary and blow past corners, Johnson has the opportunity to get back to that level in Cleveland.
Beyond Jerry Jeudy, there are a lot of question marks in the Browns' receiver room. Jeudy and Johnson are the only wideouts in Cleveland's receiving corps who have had a 50-catch season in their career. Johnson is poised to battle Cedric Tillman for reps this offseason opposite Jeudy and slot Jamari Thrash. The opportunity is there for Johnson to prove last year was an anomaly, not the ending stage of his career.
