{"id":275384,"date":"2026-08-30T19:24:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T19:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/275384\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T19:24:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T19:24:11","slug":"grading-the-trade-steelers-send-kaleb-johnson-literally-and-figuratively-packing-after-only-one-season-in-pittsburgh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/275384\/","title":{"rendered":"Grading the trade: Steelers send Kaleb Johnson literally and figuratively packing after only one season in Pittsburgh"},"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

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been active on the phones over the last 24 hours, trading former 1st-round pick Broderick Jones to the Cowboys and trimming the roster to 53 players. Well, now we have yet another trade in Pittsburgh. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Aug
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAug 21, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers running back Kaleb Johnson (20) is tackled by New York Jets safety Andre Cisco (8) during the third quarter at Acrisure Stadium.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBarry Reeger-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> have been busy over the last 24 hours, and that won\u2019t be slowing down anytime soon. Less than a day after trading former 1st-round pick Broderick Jones to the Dallas Cowboys<\/a> in exchange for a 3rd- and 6th-round pick (Pittsburgh also kicked in a 4th), another young draft pick is on his way out.<\/p>\n

That would be 2025 third-round pick Kaleb Johnson, who heads to the Green Bay Packers after just one full season in Pittsburgh and with two different coaching staffs. The writing was on the wall here as we predicted Johnson to miss the final 53-man roster,<\/a> but the fact that the Steelers recouped anything is a major win in my book. <\/p>\n

Kaleb Johnson 2025 stats<\/p>\n

28 total carries<\/p>\n

69 rushing yards<\/p>\n

0 touchdowns<\/p>\n

Kaleb Johnson desperately needed a fresh start<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t think of one player on the Steelers roster who needed a fresh start more than Kaleb Johnson. It honestly felt like he was doomed from the start in Pittsburgh. He came into a scheme under Arthur Smith that, while it prioritized zone running (Johnson\u2019s strength at Iowa), didn\u2019t have the players up front to create the alleys he needs. There are two types of backs in the NFL. Those who need a runway, and those who can create something out of nothing.<\/p>\n

Johnson falls firmly in the former category. He doesn\u2019t have the lower-body twitch to win in tight quarters. He\u2019s smoother than he is fast or explosive. But he\u2019s a big back who, when he sees a hole, can glide and get upfield. Getting behind a line that creates more vertical displacement is what he needs. That and a new start in Green Bay could work wonders for him.<\/p>\n

A crowded RB room didn\u2019t help his chances<\/p>\n

It would have been one thing if the Steelers\u2019 only RB addition this offseason was Rico Dowdle. Everyone expects him and Jaylen Warren to receive the lion\u2019s share of the touches. Where things became problematic for Johnson is the depth additions. The signing of Travis Homer and the drafting of Eli Heidenreich<\/a> made an already tough rotation even harder to crack.<\/p>\n

Then came training camp and the preseason, where things really got tough. Johnson was finishing games with just five touches<\/a> and taking the last set of reps in running back drills. It felt almost like the Steelers were trying to keep him healthy for a trade, which they just pulled off. <\/p>\n

Final Grade: A <\/p>\n

Update: The Steelers are reportedly receiving a 2028 6th-round pick in return for Johnson, per Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal<\/a>. <\/p>\n

I know we await the draft compensation, but I\u2019m a big \u201cget something for nothing guy.\u201d That\u2019s what the Steelers just received. I don\u2019t care if it\u2019s a 6th-round pick in the 2028 NFL Draft; getting something back for a player who was always going to be released is a win in my book.<\/p>\n

Now, that doesn\u2019t absolve the Steelers of the misses on guys like Jones and Johnson, but they were sunk costs at this point, and the Steelers moved on and at least got something in return. <\/p>\n

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

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

Pittsburgh Steelers News<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGrading the trade: Steelers just ripped off the Dallas Cowboys when you see what they received in return for Broderick Jones\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

The Pittsburgh Steelers have moved on from 2023 first-round pick Broderick Jones, but when you see what they received in return, it might be hard to believe that the Cowboys really offered them as much.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> Steelers News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Home \/ NFL \/ Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers have been active on the phones over the last…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275385,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74,1833,22891],"class_list":["post-275384","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\/275384","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=275384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}