Diontae Johnson possible contract demands

Except Claypool regressed last season, Diontae made the Pro Bowl .

 

popularity contest pro bowl you mean ?

 

DJ 2021 season>Claypool 2021 season

 

Emphasis in his sentence was “regressed”.

 

your point is?

 

cam heyward had a better season this year then his last one, should we give him 10X his salary?

 

low contract? aren't all our players supposed to get better? isn't that the goal? one season doesn't mean we pay them all 10 times what they are now getting. we will be broke real soon. what if that star starts to fade? we are stuck with a lot of money to be paid. he's not the only rising star out there and we should be looking for the best deal possible with all we need to upgrade. he just isn't a take over a game player or we would have seen it in 3 years. sorry you guys are not going to convince me that that is a good deal for us. 5-6 times the amount we are now paying him? are you kidding.

 

The Steelers need to be in the business of keeping talent because they are thin in so many areas. They need to sign Johnson for the going rate. Otherwise, whoever the QB is, he is going to be less successful with less weapons.

 

It is considered a "low" contract because he was statistically a top 10 WR in the league and is asking to be paid at a rate lower than that. Guys that perform the way DJ has the past two seasons statistically tend to get paid at a rate on par and often higher than DJ is supposedly asking for. Its not just one season too. He was a solid rookie, got a lot better in year 2 and showed potential to be a #1, then got a lot better and actually became one in his third year. Its not hard to fathom a guy like that getting paid. If we dont, someone else will. Do we have the talent on the offensive side of the ball to make that decision? If we aren't planning on retaining Johnson, WR arguably becomes the highest need on the team outside of QB. We HAVE to be thinking round 1 WR if we aren't planning on holding onto our only good WR. Juju and Ray Ray arent under contract. Washington was a bust. Claypool sucks. Where do we turn?

Yes, players are supposed to get better. The ones that do, tend to get paid. The ones that don't tend to get cut, or signed elsewhere for very little money. Yes, we should be looking for the best deals possible. That's the whole point of contracts and salary cap. You have to manage your talent the best you can. Pay the good ones, but try not to overpay anyone. Remember, we have a lot of other holes to fill... but if we use that money to fill another hole, one at WR opens up. If you looked at it from an outsiders standpoint, a statistically top 10 WR for the price of the #17 WR contract right now (one that will see him in the 20's among WR's just a year or two into his contract) seems like a solid investment, does it not? There's obviously more to it though. Locker room fit, work ethic, fit with the team/roster all have roles to play in that decision.


I guess its just beating a dead horse at this point. The only way to think this isn't a good deal for us is if you don't think DJ is a top 20 NFL WR. There are 13 WR's that make more than 16 million a year, with Allen Robinson, Davante Adams, Chris Godwin, and Mike Williams all likely to sign FA deals at that rate or higher this offseason. Next off-season sees pay increases for Tyreek Hill, Deebo Samuel, AJ Brown, DK Metcalf, Hollywood Brown, DJ Moore, Terry McLaurin, Hunter Renfrow all likely/projected to be at numbers at or greater than 16 million a year. You start to see that by the time DJ's current contract is up potentially 10 more guys will be making 16 mil a year or more at WR than there are now currently. Making 16 mil a year the 23rd paid WR in the league. That's fine if you don't think DJ is a top 23 WR in the NFL. Statistics and performance would disagree with you, but you are allowed to hold that opinion.

 

Dang, you said the same thing as me but in way less words. I wish I could be that concise. LOL.

 

I think they should sign him to an extension, maybe not this year, but he's earned it.

 

Now I have never disagreed that I would like to see them extend him, but it's a matter of how much. We have holes to fill and other contract that will need extended. We also need some vet free agents signed. If we had a good veteran team on the field and had some money then yes, but we dont.

 

If they did it this year, I'm sure they could structure it so his cap hit would help the team.

 

Alternative. Boo boo pro bowl in 19 was more impressive

 

If they can get him for like 15 mill a yr than not bad. He's good. I don't think he's top 10 but he has potential. I think Claypool still has the highest ceiling of everyone on the roster currently.

 

Idk about 15 or 20. He's for sure not better than adams, kupp, Debo, JJ, Diggs, tyreek, dhop, chase, Mike Evans, aj brown, Terry, Keenan Allen, or ridley. Then you have dk, Godwin, Amari, Allen Robinson, Ceedee, Hollywood, waddle, mike thomas if he comes back healthy etc..

 

IDK. I think he's every bit the player Terry McLaurin is, and statistically he shows it. I also think he is better than AJ Brown. Ridley may never play again, or reach the level he was before leaving the NFL. There's other arguments to be made with the secondary players listed. I think he is better than Robinson, Cooper, H. Brown, on par with guys like CeeDee and Godwin, Thomas WAS better but he has to return to pre injury form, Waddle might turn out better but who knows... still early. Theres 32 teams in the league. I'd say its safe saying he would fall right in the middle of starting WR #1's in the league (obviously a lot of it will be preference when nit-picking similarly skilled players).

 

That would certainly seem like the case. I would have more faith if he hadn’t regressed last season and if he actually seemed to have an attitude to get better. Having a bad game and thinking more music at practice is the answer does not instill faith. At this stage of their careers, Ward and AB were more mind set on improving their craft.