The Pittsburgh Steelers are trading running back Kaleb Johnson to the Green Bay Packers, according to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler. Johnson himself hinted at the move Sunday afternoon with an Instagram post tagging the Packers' account, and the deal is now official. Terms of the trade have not yet been disclosed. The move ends a rocky run in Pittsburgh for the 2025 third-round pick and drops him into a Green Bay backfield that carries its own layer of uncertainty, with starter Josh Jacobs facing a possible NFL suspension tied to an ongoing legal situation and top backup MarShawn Lloyd working back from a lengthy injury history. For fantasy managers, this is a trade worth tracking closely on both ends: it closes the book on Johnson's outlook in Pittsburgh and adds a new name to a crowded, unsettled Packers running back room that already carried plenty of draft-season intrigue.

 

Why the Steelers Made This Move

Pittsburgh drafted Johnson in the third round of the 2025 draft out of Iowa to run behind then-offensive coordinator Arthur Smith's outside zone scheme. That fit no longer exists. The Steelers moved on from Mike Tomlin after the 2025 season and hired Mike McCarthy as head coach, and the new offensive approach never had a real role for Johnson. He struggled badly as a rookie, logging just 51 offensive snaps across 10 games and carrying the ball only 28 times for 69 yards, a 2.5-yard average, without a touchdown. Behind Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle on the depth chart, and with rookie Eli Heidenreich also in the mix, Johnson played just five snaps in Pittsburgh's preseason opener against Green Bay and was passed over in practice reps in the days that followed. The fantasy market had already written him off entirely: over the last seven days of drafts, Johnson's average draft position sits at 250.33 overall, with a range between picks 222 and 353, effectively waiver-wire territory even in deep leagues. With a crowded backfield, no clear path to touches, and next to no fantasy equity left to protect, the Steelers cut their losses on the 2025 third-rounder.

Why the Packers Made This Move

Green Bay's motivation is tied directly to uncertainty at the top of its own running back room. Starter Josh Jacobs is dealing with an unresolved legal situation that could result in NFL discipline, yet the fantasy market still treats him as a locked-in early-round starter, with an ADP of 50.47 overall over the last seven days and a range between picks 28 and 71. That gap between his suspension risk and his draft price is exactly the kind of exposure that makes a team want more bodies at the position. Backup MarShawn Lloyd, meanwhile, carries his own extensive injury history, and it shows up in how inconsistently he's being drafted: his ADP sits at 121.34 with a wide range from pick 81 to pick 189, reflecting real disagreement among fantasy managers about how much they can trust him for a full workload. Adding Johnson gives the Packers a low-cost, healthy body at the position heading into the regular season, even if his path to meaningful touches in Green Bay is not yet clear.

Josh Jacobs' Legal Situation, Explained

Jacobs was arrested on May 26 in Brown County, Wisconsin, after police responded to a disturbance complaint on May 23. He was initially booked on five charges, including felony strangulation and suffocation along with misdemeanor counts of battery, criminal damage to property, disorderly conduct and intimidation of a victim. He was released the following day, and the Brown County District Attorney's Office subsequently reviewed the evidence and elected to file two misdemeanor charges only, battery and criminal damage to property, without a domestic-violence modifier. In a statement, Jacobs' attorneys said the allegations would be addressed in court rather than in the media and that Jacobs respects the DA's office and the process it followed. His first court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 17.

Separately, the NFL is conducting its own review under the personal conduct policy and has not yet announced any discipline. The policy's collectively bargained baseline for violations involving domestic violence is a six-game unpaid suspension, though the league can adjust for aggravating or mitigating factors. Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst has acknowledged the team is preparing for the possibility that Jacobs is suspended, while saying he believes Green Bay's depth at the position could withstand it. No suspension has been handed down as of this writing, and it remains unclear whether the league will act before Green Bay's Week 1 matchup with Minnesota on Sept. 13 or wait for the legal process to conclude.

Fantasy Football Outlook: Packers Backfield

Josh Jacobs: Jacobs remains a startable back-end RB1 in fantasy drafts on talent alone. He posted 234 carries for 929 yards and 13 rushing touchdowns to go with 36 catches for 282 yards in 15 games last season, and he has averaged roughly 15 total touchdowns per year across his two seasons in Green Bay. The unresolved suspension risk is real, and managers should treat him as a talented but risky pick, with some added value in building in insurance at the position given the uncertainty around his availability.

MarShawn Lloyd: Lloyd was Green Bay's third-round pick in 2024 out of USC, but persistent injuries have limited him to a single career regular-season appearance, six carries for 15 yards and one catch for three yards, and he missed all of 2025 with a recurring hamstring issue. With Emanuel Wilson gone in free agency, Lloyd enters 2026 as the presumptive No. 2 back in Green Bay, and any Jacobs absence would push him into a real fantasy role. He remains the higher-profile handcuff of the two backups behind Jacobs, but his own health history keeps his floor low.

Kaleb Johnson: Johnson arrives in Green Bay with a rookie season that gave fantasy managers little to work with, 28 carries for 69 yards and no touchdowns in Pittsburgh. He joins a backfield mix behind Jacobs and Lloyd that also includes Chris Brooks, and his arrival mainly serves as a healthy depth piece for Green Bay rather than a clear threat to Lloyd's standing as the top backup. Johnson is a speculative add at best in most formats and belongs on the waiver wire, worth only a look in deeper dynasty leagues betting on a change of scenery.

What's Next

Johnson is expected to join the Packers as they finalize their 53-man roster. His actual role in Green Bay will come into focus over the next week of practice, and fantasy managers should watch for further clarity on Jacobs' suspension status as the Sept. 13 opener against Minnesota approaches. Lloyd's health through the rest of camp remains the single biggest swing factor for how this backfield's touches actually shake out.

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