Diontae Johnson trade grades for Ravens-Panthers deal

All the AFC contenders are trading for wide receivers, apparently.

After the Bills traded for Amari Cooper, and the Chiefs acquired DeAndre Hopkins, the Baltimore Ravens have gotten in on the fun, acquiring Carolina Panthers’ receiver Diontae Johnson in another midseason trade.

Baltimore is adding more punch to one of the most potent offenses in the NFL, while the Panthers are going full reset on a lost 2024. Johnson currently has 367 yards and three touchdowns on the season, both at the top for the Panthers, but now he goes to Baltimore where the production will likely skyrocket.

Here’s how I would grade this trade for both the Ravens and the Panthers:

Giving up a Day 3 draft pick for a quality receiver is always good business.

The Ravens still needed to add some more pop to their offense, and Johnson can create separation in bunches. His 62 Open Score is 34th among all qualifying receivers, per ESPN, and while his Catch Score might not be as potent, those numbers will go up with a real QB under center in Baltimore. The Ravens play a lot of 21 and 22 personnel, so adding Johnson would mean potentially taking off either Zay Flowers or Rashod Bateman, but when the Ravens want to spread out and go 11 personnel, this makes them even more dangerous.

A fantastic trade with little risk added.

Look, I get trading a guy that didn’t really want to be there. Jordan Schultz reported that his role in Carolina was leaving him frustrated, and you don’t want to keep frustrated players around. With that being said, the Panthers traded Johnson for essentially the chance to move up around 15 picks on Day 3. I’m just confused by what the goal was in asking for a return on Johnson. However, this does give players like Xavier Legette and Jalen Coker more snaps, to see if they’ll be a part of the future for Carolina, so it isn’t all bad, I guess.