Juwan Johnson's day will be remembered for failing to come down with a touchdown in the closing seconds against the Arizona Cardinals. That's an unfortunate truth for the New Orleans Saints leading receiver on the day, who actually did some good things leading up to that play.
Johnson signed a three-year, $30.75 million contract extension this offseason. With some saying he was overpaid, his performance on Sunday certainly showed that he can be worth the money the Saints are spending on him (He had the third most receiving yards by a TE over the weekend). However, this one performance didn't seal the deal. Johnson will have to keep it up if he wants to show he's worth the new contract.
Fortunately, Johnson's on his way to doing so. He was an afterthought at the beginning of last season, but he's started much faster this year. If Johnson keeps up his performance from Sunday, he is set to have over 1,000 receiving yards in 2025. That would be the most of his career by far, and he would be the first player to do so in the black and gold since wide receiver Chris Olave in 2023.
Saints TE Juwan Johnson wants to be Spencer Rattler's ol' reliable
Heading into Sunday's matchup against the Cardinals, Saints tight end Juwan Johnson had emphasized how he wanted to be reliable for his starting quarterback, Spencer Rattler. "I just want to be reliable and kind of that safe haven for him to know that look, if any trouble happens, I want to be the guy you can look to be like, 'All right, he's got me there.'"
However, with seconds left in the game, Johnson dropped what would've been either a game-tying or game-winning touchdown. Even so, he still has the confidence of Rattler, with the QB saying he'd throw the ball to him 100 times out of 100. "It's a game of inches. I think that guy (All-Pro Safety Budda Baker) made a good play on that ball to Juwan."
Johnson is also aware of just how crucial that dropped touchdown was. "Me not making the play at the end kind of erases what I did in the beginning. End of the day, I just didn't make the play," Johnson said in the locker room. "It's like, no matter what happened, any play throughout the course of the game could've been like, 'oh, that couldve been the play.' But we always worry about the last play. We just have to move forward."
While it was a good play by the Cardinals defenders, coming down with those plays will have to go the Saints way, for the team to win and for Johnson to solidify himself as Mr. Reliable. Rattler clearly has trust in Johnson. Outside of targeting Johnson in that critical moment, Rattler also leaned on Johnson to start the drive. The same can be said when the Saints first went down by 10. The biggest moment, unfortunately, didn't go Johnson's way.