It’s not exactly a state secret that the Pittsburgh Steelers need help at the wide receiver position. The team hopes that the addition of Russell Wilson and Justin Fields in the offseason will solve its quarterback conundrum, but after trading Diontae Johnson to the Carolina Panthers, the Steelers entered the NFL draft with George Pickens at wideout—and not much else.
The Day 2 selection of Michigan receiver Roman Wilson will help in that regard. But according to Benjamin Allbright of KOA Colorado, the Steelers also made an effort to add some veteran help at the position during the draft:
Now, those offers were rebuffed. And to be honest, it’s more likely than not that further offers will meet with the same fate, either because teams just don’t want to part with those players or because the offer wasn’t enticing enough.
But if Wilson and/or Fields can provide decent quarterback play and the Steelers improve their pass-catchers, this team is good enough to make noise in the league’s toughest division. To be a threat in the AFC North.
With that said, based mainly on the impact a new arrival would have but also on the likelihood of a deal actually getting done, here’s half a dozen wideouts the Steelers should keep making calls on.
And what it might realistically take to turn “no” into “yes.”
The current teams of most receivers on this list haven’t exactly expressed an overwhelming desire to deal those players. In fact, while appearing on The Pat McAfee Show, San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch essentially said that any window that existed for a trade involving Deebo Samuel or Brandon Aiyuk has all but closed.
“I’m doing everything in my power to keep our roster together,” Lynch said. “That’s my goal, and I don’t question that. When you talk about guys like Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo, those are guys that we drafted, and we take a lot of pride in what they’ve become and who they’ve become. We couldn’t be more proud of those guys. And so, during the course of drafts and offseasons, do conversations happen? Absolutely, they do. We’re past that now. We’re thrilled to add to that group.”
