FANTASY FOOTBALL NEWS

Ravens Reclaim Diontae Johnson ... but He Can't Play for Them

By Matt Schauf | Updated on Wed, Jan 15 2025 9:50 PM UTC

The Ravens have claimed WR Diontae Johnson off waivers from the Texans, NFL Network reports. Johnson, of course, spent some time with Baltimore earlier this season after Carolina traded him away. The Ravens dumped him after four games.

2024 Fantasy Football Impact

If you were wondering why the Ravens would bother reclaiming Johnson, then that second Garafolo tweet is probably the answer.

There's no risk for Baltimore at this point. So the team might as well take a shot that Johnson gets a free-agent deal that helps the Ravens acquire a compensatory draft pick.

It seems far less likely that the Ravens are trying to keep any "in a pinch" team from landing Johnson, though. They already waived him once, allowing a fellow AFC playoff team to land him. And that team found out what the Ravens already had: that Johnson's a pain in the ...

Dynasty Impact

That the Ravens claimed him seems to indicate they at least believe there's a chance he gets a worthwhile deal on the open market. If not, the move just seems like punishment for Johnson -- ensuring that he can't sign on with any other playoff team.

As I mentioned when Houston dumped him, Johnson's talent means you can still keep him stashed in dynasty if you want to see what happens next.

His truly impressive run of team divorces this offseason, however, doesn't bode well for the rest of his NFL career.

Matt Schauf, Editor

Matt has earned two Fantasy Pros accuracy awards for IDP rankings and won thousands of dollars as a player across best ball, dynasty, and high-stakes fantasy formats. He has been creating fantasy football content for more than 20 years, with work featured by Sporting News, Rotoworld, Athlon, Sirius XM, and others. He's been with Draft Sharks since 2011.