The Baltimore Ravens may have had their mind on Diontae Johnson’s future with the team made up for weeks after he refused to enter the team’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles. However, it took them two and half weeks to actually cut Johnson.

So, why did it take so long? According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the Ravens were worried that by releasing Johnson early, he would return to the Steelers, and they could play him against them in Saturday’s contest. So, they instead waited until Friday to cut him so he would be on waivers until Monday at 4 p.m.

“The timing, of course, is interesting. Because had they released him a day earlier, maybe his old, team, the Steelers, could have claimed him and then played him against the Ravens. They wanted to make sure that didn’t happen,” Rapoport said.

After the Steelers’ loss to the Ravens, head coach Mike Tomlin said he would add no color to any possible interest in Johnson.

“I have nothing to add about somebody that’s not in our football team right now,” Tomlin said.

Johnson refused to go in the Ravens’ game against the Philadelphia Eagles after Rashod Bateman suffered an injury. He was seemingly upset that the Ravens would not give him a large allotment of snaps during a contract year.

He was traded from the Carolina Panthers shortly before the trade deadline. The Steelers traded Johnson to the Panthers in March.