The Diontae Johnson experiment is over in Houston. The Texans announced Tuesday that they had waived the former Pro Bowl player ahead of their divisional game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Johnson played in two total games for the Texans, catching two passes for 12 yards in the regular season finale against the Tennessee Titans and one catch for 12 yards in the wild card win over the Los Angeles Chargers. The 28-year-old was claimed by the Texans on December 23 after being waived by the Baltimore Ravens.
“With Diontae, unfortunately it didn’t work out and we’re headed to the Chiefs,” Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans said Tuesday after the news broke.
Johnson, according to KPRC2 Houston, was visibly frustrated after the Texans’ playoff win over the Chargers, as his teammates tried to calm the veteran down. He caught his only target and played just 16 snaps on offense, or 22 percent of the playing time, according to Aaron Wilson.
Baltimore sent the Carolina Panthers a fifth-round pick in exchange for Johnson and a sixth-round pick in October, but Johnson was unhappy with his role in the offense. The wideout was even suspended for the Week 15 game against the New York Giants for conduct detrimental to the team before being cut. Over the past calendar year, Johnson suited up for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Panthers, Ravens and Texans. He was traded twice and waived twice.
Johnson hits the waiver wire again, but it remains to be seen if there will be interest in him from any of the other five teams. He was seen by some as a potential “X-factor” for a Texans playoff run since Houston was without Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell at wide receiver, but the team quickly came to the conclusion that he was replaceable. Houston will rely on John Metchie III, Robert Woods and Xavier Hutchinson behind Nico Collins at receiver.
Johnson has caught 391 passes for 4,363 yards and 25 touchdowns in 77 career games. He made the Pro Bowl with Pittsburgh in 2021 after catching 107 passes for 1,161 yards and eight touchdowns.