ON THE MOVE
Houston Texans receiver finds new home with Browns
Apr 29, 2025, 2:34 pm
Diontae Johnson's time with the Texans was short-lived. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.
Wide receiver Diontae Johnson agreed to terms on a one-year deal with the Cleveland Browns on Monday, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal has not been announced. The move was first reported by NFL Network.
Cleveland will be the fourth team that Johnson has been on in a year. He began last season with Carolina before being traded to Baltimore in late October. Johnson — who led the Panthers with 30 receptions and 357 receiving yards at the time of the trade — had only one catch in four games for the Ravens when he refused to enter a Dec. 1 contest against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Johnson was suspended one game and then waived by the Ravens on Dec. 21. He was claimed by Houston and had three receptions, including one for 12 yards in the Texans' wild-card playoff win over the Chargers.
Johnson though was waived shortly after that game as Houston coach DeMeco Ryans said it didn't work out. Johnson was then claimed by Baltimore, but the Ravens did that in order to possibly get a compensatory pick in the 2026 draft.
The 28-year old Johnson has plenty of experience playing in the AFC North. He was drafted in the third round by Pittsburgh in 2019 and spent five seasons with the Steelers. His best year was in 2021 when he had 107 receptions for 1,161 yards and eight touchdowns.
Johnson joins a Browns receiving room that doesn't have many viable options other than Jerry Jeudy.
Who Johnson will be catching passes from during offseason workouts and training camp will be of more interest. Joe Flacco and Kenny Pickett are expected to battle for Cleveland's starting quarterback job, but the Browns made things interesting during the draft with the selections of Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel.
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The Angels third run of the ninth inning scored when Mike Trout walked with the bases loaded.
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Reid Detmers worked around a leadoff walk to keep the Astros scoreless in the seventh, and José Fermin (3-2) retired the side in order in the eighth before Kenley Jansen worked a scoreless ninth to earn his 24th save.
Houston’s Spencer Arrighetti struck out a season-high eight batters over 6 1/3 innings. The only hit he allowed was Zach Neto’s third-inning solo home run.
Yordan Alvarez had two hits for the Astros, who remained three games ahead of Seattle for first place in the AL West.
Key moment
Peraza’s two-run single to deep right field that broke a 1-1 tie in the ninth.
Key Stat
Opponents were 5 for 44 against Abreu in August before he allowed four straight hits in the ninth.
Up next
Astros RHP Hunter Brown (10-6, 2.37 ERA) faces RHP José Soriano (9-9, 3.85) when the series continues Sunday.