Ravens' Harbaugh vague on wide receiver Diontae Johnson's future with team

BALTIMORE - Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh is not ready to clarify why wide receiver Diontae Johnson, who was acquired in a trade on Oct. 29, didn't play a snap despite being active against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

Johnson, a Pro Bowl performer in 2021 with Pittsburgh, was brought to Baltimore to be another weapon for Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.

Instead, Johnson has one catch for six yards in four games for the Ravens after he was sent over from the Carolina Panthers.

"At this time, I'm going to have to wait just to clarify because there are some moving parts there we are going to have to figure out and explore," Harbaugh said. "I know that's not the answer you want, but that's the best I can do in fairness to everybody right now."   

Harbaugh has not said why Johnson didn't get into Sunday's 24-19 loss to Philadelphia even though he was in uniform.

Johnson was traded to the Ravens for a fifth-round pick and Baltimore is only paying about $625,000 of his contract.

He is set to become a free agent at the end of the year, and Harbaugh has been non-committal about the receiver's future in Baltimore.

"We'll just work it out and see where we are at the next few days this week," Harbaugh said.

Johnson caught 30 passes for 357 yards in seven games with Carolina this season before being traded.

In his career, Johnson has 422 career catches for 4,726 yards and 28 touchdowns. His best season was in 2021 when he had 107 catches for 1,161 yards. He entered the NFL as a third-round draft pick in 2019 out of Toledo.

Lamar Jackson said after Sunday's game that the Ravens want Johnson to be apart of the offense, especially after wide receiver Rashod Bateman tweaked his knee.

"We want him out there," Jackson said. "He's a great receiver. We didn't get him from the Panthers for nothing."