LATROBE, Pa. -- The Steelers and Diontae Johnson agreed to a two-year contract extension on Thursday worth $36.71-million, a deal that will keep the star wide receiver in Pittsburgh through 2024.
The deal includes $27 million in guaranteed money and ends Johnson's hold-in after just over a week of practices here at Saint Vincent College. According to NFL.com, Johnson will make $19 million in 2024, the final year of the deal.
“It was the offer they gave me and stuck with," Johnson said. "I was able to get a little more, but I’m cool with it. I’m happy and ready to play."
Johnson, 26, had been sitting out the team portion of practices as his agent, Brad Cicala, worked with new GM Omar Khan on getting a new deal done. Those talks heated up earlier this week when Cicala came to Latrobe the day after the Steelers signed placekicker Chris Boswell to a four-year extension.
Johnson, a third-round draft pick in 2019, led the Steelers with 107 receptions in 2021, becoming just the fourth player in team history to record 100 or more catches. He also earned a Pro Bowl berth after recording 1,161 yards and eight touchdown catches, all career highs.
Johnson's deal averages $18.355 million per season and would place him just above Christian Kirk and Kenny Golladay on the NFL's wide receiver pay list and 17th overall, just behind Michael Thomas of the Saints.
The deal also will allow Johnson to potentially become a free agent again in 2025.
"I'm happy with the deal," Johnson said. "I'm ready to get back to work."
He did that Thursday, going through a full practice with his teammates for the first time since mini-camp.
A third-round draft pick in 2019 out of Toledo, Johnson leads all wide receivers from the 2019 draft class in career receptions with 254. He also has 2,764 receiving yards and 20 touchdowns, both of which rank fourth from that class, which also includes Deebo Samuel of the 49ers, DK Metcalf of the Seahawks, A.J. Brown of the Eagles and Terry McLaurin of the Commanders.
Johnson made an immediate impact with the Steelers in 2019, becoming the first Steelers player in the modern era of the NFL to lead the league in punt return average, earning second-team All-Pro honors. He also caught 59 passes for 680 yards and five touchdowns that season, working without Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback that season.
In 2020, Johnson had 88 receptions for 923 yards and seven touchdowns, but also led the NFL with 13 dropped passes. He cut the number of dropped passes to five in 2021.
Johnson had been slated to make $2.79 million in 2022, far less than some of the contracts signed by his peers this offseason. Brown, Samuel, Metcalf and McLaurin all signed deals that were worth more than $22 million per season.
"You see the numbers, but I wasn't trying to look in everyone else's pockets. I'm just worried about what I've got going on," Johnson said.
"It's just, the grass is not always green on the other side. I was thinking about that, too. But at the end of the day I love being a Steeler. I love it here. I want to finish my career here."
That led many to speculate Johnson would want something in that range. But the Steelers didn't want to get caught up in what was an exploding wide receiver market, though Khan, the Steelers' first-year GM, said Tuesday he understood what was happening with the position.
"It’s a function of the times and the system that we’re in. It’s part of the process," Khan said. "Regardless of the position, I assume those things are going to keep growing. As the CBA grows, contracts will grow."
Johnson's deal holds the highest average paid out by the Steelers to a wide receiver in team history. Antonio Brown signed a 4-year, $68-million deal with the team in 2017 that made him the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL.
That honor now belongs to Tyreek Hill, who signed a 4-year, $120-million extension with the Dolphins after being trade from the Chiefs to Miami in the offseason.
Johnson is expected to be the leader of a young wide receiver group this season after JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Washington and Ray-Ray McCloud all left the Steelers in free agency this year. The Steelers return Chase Claypool and selected talented rookies George Pickens and Calvin Austin in this year's draft.
Johnson is embracing that role.
"Yeah, in my own way," he said earlier in training camp. "I’m not a vocal (guy). I lead by example. A lot of the guys try to come out there and get some work before practice, catches and all of that. That’s what I’m going to keep doing."
Now, with his contract situation taken care of, he can get back to practicing and do that again.
