The Pittsburgh Steelers are signing wide receiver Brandon Johnson to their practice squad after DK Metcalf’s suspension. Johnson, who was with the team during all of training camp, suffered an injury during the preseason and never returned to the team after that.
Calvin Austin III is also battling a hamstring injury. Johnson knows the system and could be of use to the Steelers this week if they wanted to bring him up off the practice squad. He spent time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers earlier this year.
Johnson was released from the Steelers after suffering a foot injury during the team’s final preseason game. He was on track to make the practice squad before the injury ended his time with the team.
Johnson was in his second season with Pittsburgh after appearing in three games and catching 1 pass for 9 yards in 2024.
He caught a touchdown and had three receptions for 16 yards in Week 2 of the preseason against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Prior to joining the Steelers, Johnson spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons with the Broncos, appearing in 20 games and catching 25 passes for 326 yards and five touchdowns across the two seasons.
Johnson was talked up by wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni earlier this season.
“I don’t overlook him because this is the third place I’ve coached him,” Azzanni said. “I recruited him to Tennessee, I got him to Denver, he did the rest there. Helped get him here, thank God they listened to me and brought him here, because he’s a sneaky good player. I’m really excited about where he’s at, he can help us. I’m able to coach him hard, he’s our type of player.”
Johnson’s return appeared unlikely with the emergence of players across the team in that room, but now with injuries and other circumstances, that allowed room for him to return to the team.