4 Steelers who could follow Matt Canada out the door in Pittsburgh
By Josh Wilson
The Pittsburgh Steelers are officially done with offensive coordinator Matt Canada, firing him on Tuesday morning.
Mike Tomlin seldom fires anyone on his coaching staff, period. To do so in-season is a massive shift in ideology from the longtime Steelers head coach, and an admission of just how bad things were on the offensive side of the ball under Canada's leadership.
A quick gander at the team's rankings during Canada's time as offensive coordinator shows just that. They ranked 25th or worse in yards and points scored in the last two seasons. Though Kenny Pickett has not been good enough to overcome a poor system, the system itself appears to be the bigger issue.
It all came to a head in Week 11 when the Steelers scored just 10 points and lost to an undermanned Cleveland Browns team. The fact that the game was extremely winnable with Cleveland scoring just 13 points made it even worse.
With Canada out, the Steelers will surely look different moving forward. The shift from 2023 to 2024 may bring about a new face in the coaching staff to take over as offensive coordinator, and with that shift could come more players and coaches who are relieved of their duties, are traded, or leave the organization for other reasons.
Here are some who might not be Steelers come next summer.
Diontae Johnson
Diontae Johnson simply does not seem to be having a good time anymore with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Having spent his entire career with Pittsburgh, he remembers what it was like to catch passes from Ben Roethlisberger. The current state of things is a far cry from the luxury he started his pro career with.
Not since his rookie and sophomore season has Johnson seen so few targets, currently getting 7.83 per game. That, despite his yards per reception and yards per target being up.
Johnson is a key subject that could earn himself a bigger role with a new play-caller in Mike Sullivan, who is running the offense in-game for the Steelers moving forward. But his spat with a coach during Week 11's game could be a signal that things are too far gone.
With one more year on his contract, it seems feasible that Johnson could be an attractive piece to wave around in the trade market come draft season to try to get a pick or two. Wide receivers are the easiest position to find an immediate turnaround after plugging into a new system, and few teams can ever say they have too much talent in their receiver room.