Report: Kenny Johnson Declined Nearly $1 Million Portal Deals

Year after year when the transfer portal opens, especially the second time around in the spring, teams like Pitt football scramble to retain as much of its top talent as possible.

Some players often look to renegotiate deals with the program’s collectives, while others are contacted by teams looking for needs in the portal.

That was the case with Pitt’s top wide receiver Kenny Johnson. Early in the portal process this spring, a source told Pittsburgh Sports Now that teams were attempting to “poach” Johnson with one of those teams being Penn State.

The portal has since closed and a report Tuesday from Stephen Thompson of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has shed light on what type of offers Johnson was receiving. According to the report, Johnson had turned down NIL payments of roughly $1 million to leave Pitt.

PSN did learn of a meeting Johnson had with Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi, however, even after the two met, it still was still unseen if Johnson was going to leave the program or not. One source close to Johnson said that there was some dissatisfaction from the top wide out, which led to a meeting with Narduzzi.

Another source tells PSN that Alliance 412 and Narduzzi increased Johnson’s NIL deal to keep him at Pitt.

Johnson won the Ed Conway Award for most improved offensive player during Pitt’s spring camp. On the same day, he recorded seven receptions for 63 yards in the Blue-Gold spring game.

Narduzzi supported that improvement when asked about Johnson this spring.

“Kenny’s been outstanding all spring,” Narduzzi said. “He is a different receiver than he was last year. Just the details to his route running is probably the main thing. The detail in route running and understanding how to stack receivers and get open. He’s gotten a lot better at that wide receiver spot.”

The 6-1, 200-pound Johnson finished second on the team amongst receivers last season with 46 receptions for 537 yards and three touchdowns. He also returned 22 kicks for 459 yards (20.9 avg.) and 10 punts for 65 yards (6.5 avg.).

As a true freshman, Johnson stepped in an played in all 12 games that saw him haul in 15 catches for 122 yards and a touchdown. He emerged as the primary kick returner as he took 15 returns for 347 yards (23.1 avg.), including a 100-yard kickoff return touchdown against North Carolina.

Pitt’s wide receiver room consists of Kenny Johnson, Raphael Williams, Censere Lee, Cataurus Hicks, Tyreek Robinson, Zion Fowler-El, Deuce Spann, Tony Kinsler, Bryce Yates and Cam Sapp.