{"id":267501,"date":"2026-08-18T12:46:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T12:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/267501\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T12:46:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T12:46:19","slug":"kaleb-johnson-mock-trades-what-the-pittsburgh-steelers-could-realistically-receive-in-return-for-the-second-year-running-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/267501\/","title":{"rendered":"Kaleb Johnson Mock Trades: What the Pittsburgh Steelers could realistically receive in return for the second-year running back"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\tHome<\/a><\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNFL<\/a><\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPittsburgh Steelers<\/a><\/p>\n

Kaleb Johnson appears to be on thin ice, to say the least, in Pittsburgh. But if the Steelers really are going to move on from Johnson before his second season even begins, they should try to recoup some draft capital. Here\u2019s a look at what they could receive. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Nov
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNov 16, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers running back Kaleb Johnson (20) stiff arms Cincinnati Bengals safety Geno Stone (22) during the second half at Acrisure Stadium.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCharles LeClaire-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Unless the Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> are just shelving Kaleb Johnson for the regular season, the writing may be on the wall for the second year back out of Iowa. After a rocky start to his career that ended with him in Mike Tomlin\u2019s doghouse<\/a>, the thought was that a new staff and a new scheme would be fruitful for the third-round pick. Mike McCarthy said as much<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Then training camp came, and there were some moments, but the past weekend was a stark realization. Johnson played just five snaps, yes, five against the Packers in preseason Week 1<\/a>. He was the third backup behind Lew Nichols and Travis Homer, meaning he would have been at best the fifth back in the rotation. Well, on Sunday, in a practice that turned out to be the Steelers\u2019 finale in Latrobe, Johnson was the last man up in drills, behind rookie Eli Heidenreich<\/a>. So the optics of the situation aren\u2019t great, leaving some to wonder if his time in Pittsburgh has come to an end. To prepare for such a reality, I asked two colleagues of mine at A to Z Sports, Tyler Forness<\/a> and Wendell Ferreira<\/a>, to send mock trade offers. While not very valuable, this is probably the best the Steelers could get. Let\u2019s dive in. <\/p>\n

49ers get insurance for Christian McCaffrey<\/p>\n

Trade offer: 49ers send a conditional 2028 7th-round pick (conditional on being on the roster on Week 1)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a very interesting situation the Steelers have themselves in. Johnson had a great final season at Iowa, which got him selected in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft. He never got off the ground in Pittsburgh and doesn\u2019t have any major trait.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Johnson is as a player is quite simple: he\u2019s a Shanahan wide zone running back. It also makes him relatively replaceable, which further reduces his value. The Steelers seem done with Johnson, which makes the future seventh-round pick with the contingency of being on the roster something that makes sense.\u201d \u2013 Forness<\/p>\n

Kaleb Johnson 2025 stats<\/p>\n

28 total carries<\/p>\n

69 rushing yards (2.5 yards per carry)<\/p>\n

0 touchdowns<\/p>\n

Jaguars add depth after losing Travis Ettiene <\/p>\n

Trade offer: Jaguars get Kaleb Johnson, Steelers get a 2027 conditional 7th-round pick (upgrades to a 6th if Johnson is active for at least three games in 2026)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Jaguars lost Travis Etienne in free agency and haven\u2019t necessarily replaced him. Yes, they signed Chris Rodriguez Jr. and Ameer Abdullah, and these players will compete for reps and touches with Bhayshul Tuten and LeQuint Allen, two draft picks from last year. But adding a former third-round pick with three years left on his rookie deal, despite fair questions around his actual talent level, for a minimal investment would make sense.\u201d \u2013 Ferreira<\/p>\n

Which offer wins? <\/p>\n

Using basic economic principles in relation to draft capital, this should be an easy decision given the present value of the 2027 7th vs the 2028 7th, especially with the conditions being relatively even. <\/p>\n

However, I\u2019m going to put on Omar Khan\u2019s cap for a second and do right by the player. I\u2019m going to take Tyler\u2019s offer and send him to San Francisco, where I know that if Johnson has an ounce of NFL-caliber play in him, Kyle Shanahan will find a way to bring it out. <\/p>\n

Because the offers are fairly even and, let\u2019s be real, not very substantial, getting Johnson to the other conference and in a better situation is the move I would make. <\/p>\n

\"Play<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"Jul\t\t<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh Steelers News<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tValuable draft pick\u2019s time in Pittsburgh might be over before it started after Steelers\u2019 first preseason game and latest practice\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

It might officially be time to worry about a 2025 draft pick that many were very excited for following evidence from the Steelers\u2019 Week 1 preseason game and practice over the weekend in Latrobe.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> Steelers News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Home \/ NFL \/ Pittsburgh Steelers Kaleb Johnson appears to be on thin ice, to say the least,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":267502,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74,1833,22891],"class_list":["post-267501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-steelers-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}