With plenty of cap space and 12 draft picks to spend, the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to dedicate serious resources to upgrading their wide receiver room after years of failed attempts to do so. According to one local insider, their first stab at it will come over the next week via free agency or trade market.
“I think they’re pretty much hell-bent of adding a receiver here within the next week,” The Pat McAfee Show’s Mark Kaboly said via his Kaboly + Mack podcast.
The legal tampering period opens on Monday, but it was Sunday—the day before the tampering period last year—that the Steelers traded for DK Metcalf. Could they do the same once again to ensure a strong future for the room?
According to Kaboly, the Steelers had trade talks about three receivers leading up to the 2025 trade deadline.
“They had the three people on their list last year, and didn’t get any three of them,” he said.
Those three were Jaylen Waddle, Brian Thomas Jr., and Jakobi Meyers. Meyers received an extension from the Jaguars after being traded there, so he can be removed from the list. Could Waddle or Thomas be in play?
There has been offseason chatter about the possibility of both, and Thomas seems to be on the outs in Jacksonville for the right price. The only problem is the Bills already set a high bar by coughing up a second-round pick for DJ Moore.
“I wouldn’t give up a first or second,” Kaboly said in a hypothetical trade scenario for Thomas. “I would give up a third, or a third and a fifth. A third and a sixth for him and a fifth, something like that. I don’t know if Jacksonville would be interested in that, but no harm in calling.”
If the trade market doesn’t work out, the Steelers also have free agency as an opportunity to improve the room.
That list could include Jauan Jennings, Alec Pierce, Deebo Samuel, Mike Evans, Rashid Shaheed, Romeo Doubs, and Marquise Brown among many others.
This isn’t the Arthur Smith tight end offense anymore. The Steelers need enough receiver talent to operate Mike McCarthy’s West Coast offense, and with Metcalf, Roman Wilson, and Ben Skowronek the only three on the current roster, expect a move to be made in the coming days and again during the draft.
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