Wide receiver Diontae Johnson will make his Baltimore Ravens debut on Sunday against the Denver Broncos following his trade from the Carolina Panthers earlier this week. Ravens head coach John Harbaugh revealed how many snaps Johnson is expected to play in his first game with the team:

NFL sources were reportedly “baffled” by the Panthers’ minimal return after the team traded Johnson to the Ravens, according to CBS Sports. jonathan jones.

“Sources around the NFL were baffled by the lack of compensation Carolina received for wide receiver Diontae Johnson,” Jones wrote. “Long story short: The Panthers sent Johnson, their top receiver at age 28, to the Ravens for a swap of fifth- and sixth-round picks while absorbing everything but the league’s prorated minimum salary.”

Johnson caught 30 passes for 357 yards and three touchdowns in seven starts. He now projects as one of the Ravens’ top three receivers for a 5-3 Baltimore team in playoff contention.

The bottom line is this: It’s very clear that the Panthers wanted to part ways with Johnson. That appears to have taken priority over getting a good performance from a talented player.

“When the Panthers acquired Johnson during the offseason, they were well aware of her reputation as a locker room diva who wasn’t afraid to criticize her quarterbacks. But they expected her to be on her best behavior while playing for a new contract.

“And while some in the organization had no problem with Johnson, he made no secret of his displeasure during Bryce Young’s slow start and had stopped practicing in recent weeks due to various injuries. When Johnson ran a bad route in Washington in the Week 7 resulting in an interception by Andy Dalton, Dalton hit his helmet and screamed when he came to the sideline.

“Now it appears that was the beginning of the end for Johnson in Carolina, which agreed to reduce Johnson’s salary to the minimum and threw a pick to Baltimore to end Johnson.”

That’s not ideal for the Panthers, a one-win team that is light years away from contending for the playoffs. They need as much talent and assets as possible, and the answer for their franchise quarterback may very well not be on the roster given that the team benched second-year signal caller Bryce Young two weeks into the season.

But it’s also clear that the Panthers may have made a bad move, especially when the team had time to be more patient before Tuesday’s deadline, as Jones noted:

“Multiple sources questioned why the Panthers didn’t retain Johnson for another week. Even if he were inactive for Sunday’s game against the Saints, perhaps a better market could emerge for Carolina to trade him. Worst-case scenario, and if the relationship had deteriorated beyond repair: the Panthers could have released Johnson after the trade deadline to put him on waivers. Then any team, and maybe not the Super Bowl-contending Ravens, could have. acquired while paying the rest of his salary. “Carolina could have kept her money, stayed near the top of the sixth round and made a statement to the present and future locker room about how business will be conducted.”

However, the Panthers can’t back out of that move now, and the 1-7 team now finds itself at the bottom of the NFL standings, hoping for better days ahead. Meanwhile, Carolina looks to stop the losing streak on Sunday when it hosts the New Orleans Saints (2-6).