The Pittsburgh Steelers have two players focused on getting contract extensions in superstars Minkah Fitzpatrick and Diontae Johnson. While Fitzpatrick will not address the media at OTA's, Johnson did so on Tuesday. While he made it clear he wants to get paid his worth, he also clarified to reporters where he wants to be.
"I want to be here," Johnson said. "I'm patient. My agent is going to do what he does with that [contract] situation."
Johnson had to be licking his chops after seeing the likes of Christian Kirk receive a four-year, $72 million deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars. For reference, Kirk has yet to even eclipse 1,000 receiving yards in a season in his four NFL seasons. In comparison, Johnson has just under 200 less yards in his career despite playing one less season. The Toledo product likely has to be thinking an extension of at least in the neighborhood of Kirk's deal, $18 million per year.
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver, Diontae Johnson (#18) gets introduced at Heinz Field in 2021. | Twitter: @JSKO_PHOTO
Elsewhere in the market, Davante Adams, arguably the game's best wideout, received a five-year, $141.25 million contract from the Las Vegas Raiders. Johnson acknowledged that he saw those contracts, as it's impossible to miss. While Johnson didn't show up until a few days into OTA's, it seems that there will be no holdout this season.
"I'm just here to work. I'm not really worried about it. I can just control what I can control. I'm gonna be here. I'm just going to keep working. If the contract comes this year, it comes. If it doesn't, it doesn't. I'm just ready to play football."
Despite all of the rumors when Johnson didn't originally show up to OTA's, it seems he will be on the field for training camp, preseason, and beyond. This is good news for Steelers fans, as there's nothing to worry about from an on-field perspective for the 2022 season. Now, it's just a matter of whether or not he'll be a Steeler for longer than just the 2022 season.
With the somewhat surprising retirement of Stephon Tuitt last week, the Steelers had even more cap space open up. A direct beneficiary of that will likely be Johnson or Fitzpatrick, or even both. The money allows the Steelers to be able to extend both before the start of the regular season.
So fans, what would you pay Diontae Johnson? Would you get it out of the way now or try and wait until next off-season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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