ESPN’s Adam Schefter carefully broke down what is ultimately a brilliant “procedural move” by the Ravens. Johnson is not eligible to play in this post-season and will not be “awarded” to the Ravens until after the Super Bowl. Schefter notes Johnson “qualifies as an unrestricted free agent this offseason and, if he signs with another team, he factors into Baltimore’s compensatory pick formula, potentially helping it obtain an additional draft pick in 2026.” Schefter adds that Johnson “likely won’t step foot back into the Ravens’ facility. But he now can help Baltimore in the off-season.”

Johnson will go down in Texans 3:30 PM CT Wild Card Saturday history as “one player who caught a pass once.” The receiver has been waived three times this year and mercifully, we don’t think there’s another team left that will claim him this year. He finishes the season with a 33/375/3 receiving line in 12 games and will hit the high-risk one-year bin in free agency. Entering his age-29 season, we may have seen the end of Johnson as a fantasy football asset. Certainly NFL teams are telling us that very loudly by their actions this season.

Contrary to head coach DeMeco Ryans’ proclamation that the Texans would “feed” Johnson in the Wild Card Round, the veteran saw just one target while running a route on 15 of the team’s 43 drop backs on the day. Johnson saw four targets on 16 routes in Week 18 against the Titans. It appears, for now, that John Metchie — who had eight targets against LA — is the Texans’ No. 2 wideout behind Nico Collins.

Ryans spoke highly of Johnson, who caught 2-of-4 targets for 12 yards in the Week 18 finale against the Titans. Ryans said he was “really impressed with this last week of practice” from Johnson and praised him for picking up the offense quickly. It’s been a trying season for Johnson, who caught 30 passes for 357 yards and three touchdowns in seven games with the Panthers before a brief stint with the Ravens in which he caught 1-of-5 targets for six yards before being suspended by the team after refusing to go on the field in a game. With a big offseason coming up in free agency, a strong playoff performance would benefit Johnson, who has some brand rebuilding to do after being one of the league’s premiere target hogs through his first five years in the league.