Breaking: Diontae Johnson’s Future Hangs in Balance: Harbaugh’s Non-Comments Fuels Speculation

What is happening with the Baltimore Ravens and their newly acquired receiver, Diontae Johnson? If anyone has information, please share. It seems that Ravens head coach John Harbaugh will remain silent about this frustrating situation and won’t be providing updates to the team or its fans.

The Ravens acquired Johnson from the Panthers at the trade deadline, appearing to bolster their receiving core. The trade was a seemingly obvious win for Baltimore, as general manager Eric DeCosta fleeced Carolina for pennies on the dollar for the receiver.

Fast-forward a couple of weeks, and the previously deemed “fleece” has been anything but. While it was reported early that Johnson would be brought along slowly into the Ravens’ offensive scheme, no one figured it would have gone as slow as it has. He made his first appearance in Week 9, playing in 17 snaps.

His snap count would only dwindle in the coming three weeks before ultimately playing none in their uninspiring loss to the Eagles in Week 13. He was dressed and on the sidelines, but didn’t play a snap.

What gives?

John Harbaugh owes Ravens’ fans answers with Diontae Johnson drama

I’ve never been a GM of an NFL franchise, but I can confidently say teams aren’t just giving up assets for the sake of it. The Ravens traded for Johnson for a reason. They gave up tangible assets to acquire him. However, Ravens’ fans have yet to see what those reasons were.

The loss to the Eagles, in tandem with the zero snaps played by Johnson, brought attention to the situation brewing in Baltimore. It got to the point where even Lamar Jackson was telling the media, “We want him [Johnson] out there. He’s a great receiver. We didn’t get him from the Panthers for nothing.”

Well, apparently Lamar, you did. At least, that’s what it looks like at this moment.

And instead of being upfront and honest about the situation, Harbaugh is ducking behind shadiness and secrecy and keeping the state of affairs under wraps. When asked about the ongoing drama with Jonhson, Harbaugh stated, “At this time, I’m going to have to wait. There are moving parts we’re going to have to figure out and explore.”

What an awful response. It’d be one thing if it were solely the fans seeking answers, but when the star quarterback (who was firmly the MVP frontrunner a few weeks ago) is also questioning the coach’s decisions, it’s a terrible look.

Furthermore, it’s not like Baltimore’s offense has been a wagon over the past month. Games against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Eagles exposed this team as one-dimensional. The Ravens reverted to the old Ravens, who relied exclusively on Jackson to will the team to victory. All of this is to say this team has a heavily underutilized weapon literally sitting on the bench with no explanation for why he isn’t seeing the field.

Ravens fans and the team demand answers, but Harbaugh would rather create a media circus by trying to avoid a media circus, by just telling the people what’s going on. Ridiculous.