Pennies. The Baltimore Ravens acquired wide receiver Diontae Johnson from the Carolina Panthers for pennies.
The Ravens sent a 2025 fifth-round pick to the Panthers in exchange for Diontae Johnson and a sixth-round pick. The deal essentially moves Baltimore back about 19 spots in the draft, from roughly pick #158 to #177, while landing a proven wide receiver in Johnson. That's shrewd negotiating by Baltimore's GM Eric DeCosta.
Diontae Johnson didn't really 'DeCosta' them anything - sorry, we'll stop.
In reality, Johnson was rotting away in Carolina. They weren't going anywhere, and so the Ravens pounced. He might just be the best WR Lamar Jackson has ever played with.
Needless to say, the trade broke the internet. Typically, news like a major trade will show some pretty divisive takes. However, today's trade had (practically) the whole internet in agreement over the trade news: The Ravens got away with highway robbery.
How did the Ravens fleece the Panthers so badly with the Diontae Johnson trade
There's no other way to put it: Eric DeCosta absolutely fleeced Panther's GM Dan Morgan.
Carolina will eat the majority share of Johnson's contract, move up 15-20 draft spots on day three of the draft, and lose their No. 1 receiver. Was it worth it?
Well, the internet doesn't think so, and it's called into question the humanity of Johnson himself to make it make sense.
Is Diontae Johnson an awful human or something? This trade is a slam dunk for the Ravens
— Nate (@nate09871) October 29, 2024
The conspiracy theorists also had a moment, throwing out a potential "there's something they're not telling us." And they aren't wrong to assume there may be more to the story seeing as though the Panthers essentially received nothing in return.
Diontae Johnson always felt like a rental for the Panthers. But dealing him after seven games when he’s your leading receiver tells you there’s a lot more at play here than just his production.
— Joe Person (@josephperson) October 29, 2024
Here we have some more, "Carolina didn't get enough in return," opinions...
Gut reaction: THAT IS NOT ENOUGH RETURN FOR DIONTAE JOHNSON IN THIS WIDE RECEIVER MARKET!!
— Tim Donnelly (@DonnellySports) October 29, 2024
C'mon, Panthers. https://t.co/ja3zP113oI
And here we have the cherry on top of the trade: We can deem this trade an absolute steal from Eric DeCosta.
Eric DeCosta has gotten trade steals before; add this to the list.
— Sarah Ellison (@sgellison) October 29, 2024
💎Ravens give 5th rounder
💎Panthers give Diontae Johnson + 6th rounder
Assuming Baltimore picks toward the end of the 5th round, and the Panthers pick toward the top of 6th, he'll only be moving back, what,… pic.twitter.com/dsezedS9ix
There were several other posts considered for the article however, some of the language was a bit too passionate to be featured (you know who you are). But we digress.
So there you have it - the Ravens got away with murder.
With Johnson now in the Purple and Black, it's fair to question what other moves DeCosta will make. The cheap salary uptick and day-three draft pick won't hamstring Baltimore from making more moves before the Nov. 5 trade deadline.