Making major updates to their wide receiver room by using the trade market and the first round, the Panthers are certainly in the early stages of a rebuild. Their highest-paid wideout looms as an extension candidate, with a Steelers-constructed contract expiring at season’s end.
The Panthers, however, have yet to engage with wide receiver Diontae Johnson on an extension, according to Joseph Person of The Athletic, as the team tries to determine the best future pass catchers for young quarterback Bryce Young.
Johnson arrived in Carolina from Pittsburgh in March in exchange for cornerback Donte Jackson and a sixth-round pick. The Steelers also sent a seventh-round pick to the Panthers to close the deal. The Panthers hope that Johnson will give Young a second reliable target alongside veteran Adam Thielen, who surpassed expectations last season with 103 catches and 1,014 receiving yards — more than the team’s next two leading receivers combined.
Johnson signed a two-year, $36.7MM extension with the Steelers in 2022, but the Panthers are wisely waiting for him to prove himself in Dave Canales‘ system. The veteran wideout only caught two of his six targets for 19 yards in Carolina’s regular-season opener against the Saints, but he is encouraged by Canales’ use of motion to create favorable matchups.
“They’re moving me around just to get me on ’backers or nickels or different corners,” said Johnson last week. “Try to attack them in different ways. Just little stuff like that is going help us keep the offense on the field and allows me to move the sticks for the offense.”
Johnson has shown interest in an extension with the Panthers in the past. If Johnson can assimilate smoothly into Canales’ offense and develop chemistry with Young, he could cash in on the recent explosion of receiver contracts. While his career pedigree would not warrant the $30MM-plus per-year figures of Justin Jefferson, CeeDee Lamb, and Brandon Aiyuk, a strong season could vault him into the $25MM range.
“It gives me motivation to keep working hard, keep my head down, keep grinding,” Johnson said of this year’s ballooning WR market. “The time will come if I can just continue to make plays and be consistent.”
At 28, Johnson should have a nice opportunity collect a lucrative third contract — either from the Panthers or in free agency — by March. His production in Canales’ offense will provide an important value update for the former Steelers third-round pick. Carolina holds exclusive negotiating rights with Johnson until the 2025 legal tampering period.
A team could find great value with him if he comes in at $18-$22 Mill APY.
Right now the team needs to worry more about playing football than contract extensions. The Bengals are in the same boat.
Announcing this Week 1 about your WR1 is another feather in Tepper’s “Derp Cap”
Extending him now would be a fools errand. His production does not warrant any sort of deal.
That being said, he could play to his actual ability and be worth an extension but if the Panthers were smart they’d wait and see then try to negotiate once he shows his worth. If he doesn’t extend then he can be tagged and it can be figured out later or he can be shipped out.