Cut by Ravens, Receiver Diontae Johnson Ready for a ‘Fresh Start’ With Texans

Diontae Johnson (18), then with the Baltimore Ravens, warms up before a game against the Denver Broncos at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on Nov. 3. Greg Fiume/Getty Images

Houston Texans wide receiver Diontae Johnson is looking to put his recent past behind him.

Johnson was cut by the Baltimore Ravens on Dec. 20 after he refused to take the field in the team’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles earlier in the month. He was claimed off waivers by the Texans on Dec. 23. Speaking to reporters in the Texans’ locker room Monday amid preparation for next week’s game against Tennessee, Johnson said he is looking forward to starting over and putting his new team first.

“Just to be here, fresh start, getting around the guys—I knew a couple of the guys before—just being here,” Johnson said, via KPRC 2 Texans reporter Aaron Wilson. “To actually be in the building and not worry about everything that’s been going on, just focus on the Titans and learning plays. Just taking it one day at a time.”

Wilson posted a clip of Johnson working on his releases on the practice field with the team on Monday.

Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans also looked forward to giving Johnson a fresh start.

“[He’s] a guy who has talent,” Ryans said at a press conference Monday. “He’s done it at a high level for other teams. He’s bounced around a little bit here. As I mentioned to him, of course it’s a clean slate starting with me. It really doesn’t matter what has happened in the past or what the narrative is about you.”

Johnson said he saw himself fitting in well. He complimented quarterback C.J. Stroud, with whom he has been in touch since meeting him at an event earlier this year. “To finally get here and be in the offense with him ... to be able to contribute to the offense is a blessing.”

Johnson joins a talented Texans roster, though one that has suffered injuries to two of its top performers: 2020 NFL receptions and receiving yards leader and four-time Pro Bowler Stefon Diggs tore his ACL in October, and slot receiver Tank Dell suffered a catastrophic knee injury this month, which included multiple torn ligaments and a dislocated knee, and is expected to miss most or all of the 2025 season. The receiving corps is currently headlined by Nico Collins, the team’s leading receiver in 2023; former Super Bowl-winning journeyman Robert Woods; and 2022 second-round pick John Metchie III.

The new addition said he is comfortable with whatever his new role may be and praised the Texans’ locker room culture.

“Team first, everybody is about the team,” Johnson said. “I’m about the team too. I’m doing whatever the coaches ask me to do, whether special teams, returns, free play a couple plays here and there, just contribute in some sort of way, that’s all I’m really worried about.”

Johnson said he waited for several days before he got a call from his agent that the Texans were interested in him. The interest was mutual: He wanted to play for Houston when he was on the trade block with the Carolina Panthers earlier this season.

After being traded to Baltimore in October, Johnson played just 39 snaps in four games for the Ravens, catching one pass for six yards on five targets. He was conspicuously absent from the Ravens’ 24-19 loss to the Eagles on Dec. 1. Three days later, Johnson was suspended for conduct detrimental to the team, and it was revealed that Johnson refused to enter the game. On Dec. 16, the team excused Johnson from team activities, a sign he would be cut.

The Texans are Johnson’s fourth NFL team. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2019.

Johnson was mum about his relationship with the Ravens. “I want to leave that in the past,“ he said. ”Fresh start here.”