Ravens Waive Johnson, Sit Agholor

The NFL truly stands for ‘Not For Long’. Just two short months after becoming a Baltimore Raven, wide receiver Diontae Johnson has been dismissed by the organization. The Ravens waived Johnson on Friday, two weeks after the receiver refused to play during Baltimore’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Johnson was dealt to Baltimore in October, as part of a trade with the Carolina Panthers. The Ravens also received a sixth-round pick in the 2025 draft, while Carolina got a fifth-round 2025 draft pick in return.

Johnson did not play in the Ravens’ 24-19 loss to Jalen Hurts and the Eagles on December 4. Although Baltimore coach John Harbaugh was originally obscure about why Johnson did not see the field, the Ravens later revealed the whole story that Johnson had refused to enter the game.

Johnson was disciplined and suspended by the team for one game, with Baltimore general manager Eric DeCosta citing “conduct detrimental to the team” in a statement. It remains a mystery why Johnson refused to play.

Prior to being traded, Johnson led Carolina in catches, receiving yards and touchdowns.

His playing time in with the Ravens has been sparse: Johnson has been active for five games, and has started once. He picked up one catch for 6 yards, after five targets with the Ravens.

The 28-year-old receiver chose a bad time for this to happen considering he is in a contract year, having signed a two-year extension with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022.

Johnson will now go on waivers and can be claimed until Monday at 4 pm ET. According to the Ravens, wide receiver Anthony Miller has been brought up from the practice squad to fill the spot on the roster.

The Ravens might be extremely shorthanded on experienced wide receivers after ruling out Nelson Agholor (concussion) and listing Rashod Bateman (foot) as questionable for Saturday’s crucial AFC North battle against the Pittsburgh Steelers, at 4 p.m. ET. There was a bit of optimism that Agholor could get cleared in time from the concussion protocol for Saturday’s game. But on Friday the Ravens downgraded their No. 3 wide receiver out, an untimely loss for quarterback Lamar Jackson and the NFL’s top-ranked offense.

Ravens coach Harbaugh declined to comment on Bateman’s status Thursday.

“I really have nothing to report on any of that stuff,” Harbaugh said. “We’ll be working through all of those things in the next few hours, and few days even, but we’ll be in good shape and be ready to roll on [Saturday].”