DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Browns Sign WR Diontae Johnson

As far as I'm concerned he is just another camp body at this point. I don't see him as anything more than that.

we have the most random roster lol

Conceived on the fly, but with a smidge of forethought.

So, let me ask 2 questions:

1) is Jerry Jeudy the #1 receiver on the team?

2) If he is, and I am going to debate anyone who disagrees, will you take issue with a second receiver that gets us 800+ yards and 5 TDs?

OK, I guess 3 questions... What are the expectations of receiver #2 and even receiver #3?

That is what you are getting in Johnson... 800 yards and 5 TDs as a starting receiver.

Waiting to hear the numbers, but this could be a good signing if he managed to be humbled and has his head on straight.

The other thing is Elijah Moore got an unrestricted tender, so if he doesn't sign with another team before the deadline July 21, he can only sign with the Browns and it's only $3.428M in 2025 salary. If he does sign elsewhere, the Browns will have him used in the compensatory calculation for next year. My guess is he will not sign elsewhere, so it is a fairly inexpensive 3rd receiver for the roster if he doesn't.. If he does sign, it should help us get a comp pick.

He had a good 3 year stretch in Pittsburgh (21/22/23 (with Pickett) - before the wheels fell off. If he can get back to that, good signing.

Seems more like a skosh to me; but if you say smidge, it's a smidge.

The date has changed to May 1st, so we will know by Friday.

As I said elsewhere, it's a decent signing. It has some potential upside, maybe big. It also carries some potential downside. Being this might be his last chance, we stand a good chance to see the good Diontae.

If not, it won't be hard to wash our hands.

That’s just it, I wouldn’t call it the wheels falling off. He was leading the Panthers in receiving the first third of the season when they traded him out of nowhere, went to the Ravens and couldn’t get on the field and that’s when he got fired up and demanded they cut him, which they obliged. He then got picked up by Houston and same situation as Baltimore. I can’t quite figure out what happened those final several weeks of the season, but if he’s past that, then he shows a propensity for 800+ yards and 5 TDs.

My bad, I thought the May 1st date was for waiting to sign Johnson. If they waited until May 1, HE wouldn’t count in compensatory equation for Baltimore.

The signing does not hurt - it might help a lot. I have not followed him closely but kjnow he had some good years early in his career.

Again, that was just two years ago. He ended up playing on 3 teams last year, then the Ravens picked him up again to try to include him in the compensatory calculations. He is only one year removed from having 5 years in a row of at least 680 yards and all but one of those seasons he had 5+ TDs.

Last season he through the first 7 games, before being traded, he had 357 yards and (3) TDs. (project that out over 17 games, he is in his normal range of 867 yards and 7 TDs).

After the trade he had 18 yards and 0 TDs.

What happened to the second half of the season, that's what the big question is. If that is resolved, then expectations should be back to 800 yards and 5-7 TDs. He's only 28 yrs old. I think Flacco can find ways to use him with a full off season in the offense. His rookie year he came in and produced 680 yards and 5 TDs. That is a lowest yardage production year of his career before the second half of the season hit last year.

All indications are that he should be a productive #2 receiver.

Diontae needs a timing QB. He's a good route runner. He was good with Big Ben because of that. Lamar/Bryce were not a good fit for him.

So, it bodes well for him with Flacco and this offense.

Didn't I just read where Elijah Moore just signed with Buffalo?

Yes, he signed yesterday for $5M 1 yr deal.. Which means he will be included in the compensatory calculations for the Browns, but will not help the offense. I would rather have him in uniform than a comp pick.

Maybe the best thing about being a “final destination” team, the last-chance stop for some players before being shown the league door is that if they have any sense at all they’ll straighten up and fly right. So we sometimes land talent value in exchange for career reclamation. Hope this is one of those cases because this team is both hopelessly drawn to and yet desperately needs to avoid more drama.

I certainly agree with your assessment as well as your sentiment, We seem to be addicted to media madness and controversies of all kinds this tent. We would love to showcase a circus of performers and talents, wowing the Land. But we are addicted to the spectacle of sideshow freak shows instead. The big names and the minor contributors are all amplified by the media, speculation, untruths, and our addiction to rumors and real drama.

I believe that if there was an intervention and treatment program for the FO and friends and fans of the Bowns, it would have to be about a 25-step program. That number is because of our intensity and deep-seated love of the Browns. I have been chugging this Kool-aid for years and revel in my addiction despite all the episodes over the decades as we tried to "right the ship" while we "waited for next year"(again and again).

That said, I can't wait to get this season kicked off. Hope our hopes pan out.

That's what we keep thinking but it seldom works that way. That's because we're never truly the "last straw"; not for coaches, not for players. They can always move on the next year and both parties at the next table just shrug off Cleveland while they all have a nice laugh. We're usually just a check-writing pit stop.

Or we get a greedy washed up player looking for a last paycheck....like Dwayne Bowe or that other receiver that came after him.

Kenny Britt.

May your weekend be filled with headaches and diarrhea for even bringing that nightmare back up.

I’d forgotten both of them.

Well you can thank jfan for reigniting that horror

Lol

Or Andre Bad Moon Rison

Or we get a guy that runs someone over and kills them. Hi, Dante Stallworth.

Or we get a guy that posts a bunch of pics of drugs on his coffee table and then loses his mind at the Miami airport and assaults some cops. We miss you, Davone Bess.

Oh the memories!

...or a guy that forgot he had a loaded gun in his carry on luggage. Shaun Rogers.

I loved the Dwayne Bowe singing if only because every time they over threw him you got to hear “that one want over Dewayne Bowe” 😂

Low risk....

I have to say that I like the signing. He is still a dangerous receiver. When he was on the field with Pukesburgh, I watched him all the time. He always scared the crap out of me due to his speed and elusiveness. I did watch him some last year and he appeared to still have the physical skills. Yes, he has questionable hands, BUT he is the most accomplished receiver on the roster IMO. His problems seem to be above the neck and i think he fully realizes this will probably be his last shot. Maybe he had had some counselling or possibly a medication to get his head together. I hope we get lucky for his benefit and ours. You never know, when young men approach 30 and there back is against the wall for their livelihood, sometimes the stars align and they come out better on the other side. We are really DUE for some luck. Go Browns!!

The Browns signed Dionte Johnson out of desperation and he's at a yard sale price
This is par for the Browns course . They sign FA WRs with very little left in the tank . The only WR I know that played with 3 different franchises in one season yet 3 years removed from
A flookie 1000 yd season . Everytime the Browns sign a FA WR this board
Gets all excited and acts like their problems are solved in the WR room .
This franchise was better off trying to sign a Hunter Renfro , Davinte Adam's
But no they sign a WRs teams easily bypassed
He is a zero threat with the ball in his hands

A few things:

The Browns do have some cap constraints. Some of the guys you mentioned would be fairly expensive and hard to sign without doing backflips to get it done.

We did sign a TE who functions much like a wide receiver. He is probably going to take away 50 or so targets from traditional wide receivers.

Stefanski does favor two TE sets. Being such, that will take away from one position...1 less WR will be playing a good number of snaps per game.

I think the decision was made early on that we will lean on the running game. Us drafting 2 running backs is a pretty good validation of that happening.

Given all of that, I don't see where the Browns had any real need to go after another receiver. The returns would have been diminished due to the reduction in pass attempts to wide outs.

Can't argue with your assessment. All signs point to a big change in offensive philosophy. But that's been a problem in Cleveland under Stefanski. Every year he keeps changing the offense. The only identity is
That there is none. Look at your best offenses in the NFL.
The Bengals ,Lions , Eagles , Ravens ....those offenses have elite talent
And steadfast philosophy.
Didn't the front office restructure Watsons contract to create more
Cap room . Yet the best WR they could add was Dionte Johnson ??
Funny how much $$$ the Browns invested on the defensive side of the ball
And are going cheap on the offensive side .
Yet it's a offensive driven league

You do realize to start the season they use a lot of bodies. That they sign everything from UDFA's to cheap retreads in the beginning. That when there are no guarantees to the contracts they can be cut at any time with no actual cost. Often times this is referred to as "camp fodder".

If anything signing someone like Johnson who actually has shown he can produce in the NFL in the past is a far cry better than some of the bodies all teams will be using to fill the second and third teams in training camp. I honestly have no idea what the all of the attention is about.

I'll help you Pit...the Steelers acquired D.K. Metcalf...we acquired Dionte Johnson...the Bengals re-signed T Higgins (when no one thought they'd spend the necessary $$$ to keep Burrow stocked with top-WR talent...the Ravens acquired DeAndre Hopkins (for 2.5x what we spent on Johnson)...we didn't draft a single WR.

I honestly have no idea how that isn't quite obvious.

Here is what should be quite obvious. They blew it with the trade for watson. Haslam outright admitted that. As such we didn't have a first round pick for three years. We didn't a have a second round pick for one of those years.

So now somehow in your infinite wisdom you think every position and need can be filled in one draft? This is the type of unrealistic expectations we see from those who can't seem to see the forest for the trees.

I honestly have no idea how that isn't quite obvious.

That's some sound drafting right there . The Browns draft 2 QBs and 2 RBs.
Yet don't draft 1 WR in the draft . One of the worst offenses
In the league last year in points and explosive plays .
The offense needed a WR more than it needed another RB.
This front office could have retained Nick Chubb.
The Browns have only drafted WRs twice in the 1st RD since 2005.
That's 20 years.
That has to be the lowest figure in the NFL.
The Browns had every opportunity to upgrade the WR room this year
What's their solution.....Dionte Johnson. Okay gotcha . We'll done Andrew
How you still have a GM job is baffling

And your post is a prime example why you don't have a job in an NFL FO. A lot of positions needed to be addressed. They can't all be addressed in a single season. Next year has a much better QB class than this year. So would it be better to address the RB position this year and find a permanent back-up QB this year in the hopes they luck out and get a franchise QB? Try to win all the games we can and create an explosive offense in a single off season?

Or would it e better to build on things like LB'er and DT this year in hopes we actually have a pick high enough to land a franchise QB in next years draft in next years darft?

Yeah, they should have set themselves up to win 10 games this coming season so they have no shot at a franchise QB next season. Yeah, that's the ticket.

They needed to rebuild a lot of units. Playing the long game is critical in doing that the right way. People who only thing about short term gratification is why the divorce rate is so high.

How does one draft a receiver when unsure who the quarterback is?