{"id":275400,"date":"2026-08-30T20:12:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T20:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/275400\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T20:12:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T20:12:12","slug":"packers-acquire-rb-kaleb-johnson-in-trade-with-steelers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/275400\/","title":{"rendered":"Packers acquire RB Kaleb Johnson in trade with Steelers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Kaleb<\/p>\n

Kaleb Johnson will get a fresh start in Green Bay. Bryan M. Bennett \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Aug. 30, 2026 Updated 2:29 pm EDT<\/p>\n

The Green Bay Packers acquired running back Kaleb Johnson on Sunday in a trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers, a team source confirmed. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity because they didn\u2019t have permission to comment publicly.<\/p>\n

Johnson, a 2025 third-round pick out of Iowa, provides depth at the position for Green Bay in case feature back Josh Jacobs is suspended. The Brown County District Attorney formally charged Jacobs<\/a> with misdemeanor battery and misdemeanor criminal damage to property earlier this week. The NFL said in a statement that it is \u201cclosely monitoring all developments in the matter, which remains under review.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Packers already have MarShawn Lloyd as their No. 2 running back to take over if Jacobs misses time. Chris Brooks, a stout pass blocker, has been Green Bay\u2019s No. 3 option. If Jacobs isn\u2019t suspended before roster cuts are due at 6 p.m. ET Sunday, the Packers could keep four running backs on the initial 53-man roster.<\/p>\n

Top Plays from Cardinals @ Packers<\/p>\n

The trade ends Johnson\u2019s brief and underwhelming tenure in Pittsburgh. Looking to tap into a talent-rich 2025 running back class, the Steelers believed that Johnson\u2019s experience in Iowa\u2019s wide-zone rushing attack would make him a fit in Arthur Smith\u2019s offense. However, in Week 2 of his rookie season, Johnson made a costly special-teams blunder<\/a>. He allowed a kickoff to bounce over his head, gifting the Seahawks a bizarre touchdown.<\/p>\n

Johnson never earned back the coaching staff\u2019s trust. He carried the ball 28 times for 69 yards with zero touchdowns last year. Johnson\u2019s stock continued to fall this preseason. While he has a 6-foot-1, 224-pound frame, his limited play speed (4.57 40-yard dash) was evident. He lacked explosiveness and rarely created more than what was blocked.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a tough look for the Steelers to move on from a third-round pick just one year after being drafted. It\u2019s especially disappointing considering how other backs in the 2025 class have produced. Johnson was technically in a position battle for the RB3 job. Considering the Steelers have a steady 1-2 punch atop the depth chart in Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle, special teams was going to be a strong consideration. The way the Steelers split carries in the preseason suggested Johnson was likely on the outside looking in. Rather than cutting Johnson and having him sign elsewhere, Pittsburgh recouped some value with a trade.<\/p>\n

Details of the trade have not yet been confirmed.<\/p>\n

This story will be updated.<\/p>\n

\"Connections:\"Connections:<\/p>\n

Aug 30, 2026<\/p>\n

Connections: Sports Edition<\/p>\n

Spot the pattern. Connect the terms<\/p>\n

Find the hidden link between sports terms<\/p>\n

Play today’s puzzle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kaleb Johnson will get a fresh start in Green Bay. Bryan M. Bennett \/ Getty Images Aug. 30,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275401,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[4917,1418,73,75,74,1833],"class_list":["post-275400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-green-bay-packers","tag-nfl","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-pittsburgh-steelers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275400","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=275400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}