It was 364 days ago, on March 9th, that the Pittsburgh Steelers traded a second-round pick for DK Metcalf and a late-round pick swap. While tomorrow is technically the one-year mark, today is the anniversary relative to the new league year. It all went down on the eve of the legal tampering period, and that’s where we find ourselves this Sunday once again.
Let’s look back at Metcalf’s year and evaluate the value of the trade and subsequent $150 million extension.
With 59 receptions for 850 yards and six TDs in 15 games, Metcalf had the worst statistical season of his career. It fell short of the value the Steelers gave up to acquire him. To put that in perspective, let’s look at the amount of dollars per reception for the top 20 paid WRs in 2025.
Some of the salary numbers may be inaccurate from last year, based on recent extensions.
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* denotes 10 or fewer games played
If we get technical with 2025 cash flow, this list would look different, but average-per-year is a nice, clean way to look at it. The important fact here is that Metcalf was the second-most expensive receiver per reception if you disregard players with injury-shortened seasons.
One full year later, Metcalf remains the fourth-highest-paid receiver in the league. It looked pricey then, and even worse now. The redeeming factor is that he is signed through 2029. With a rapidly inflating salary cap, it’s only a matter of time before it becomes appropriately priced.
It’s also important to consider the draft value given up to acquire him. That was pick No. 52, which Seattle used to trade to the Tennessee Titans to move up for Nick Emmanwori. That worked out exceptionally well for them as Emmanwori was a key piece of the best defense in the league.
Pittsburgh’s next pick in the third round was spent on RB Kaleb Johnson. The only additional RB they would have had access to with the 52nd pick was RJ Harvey, with whom they had a pre-draft visit. But there were, of course, other needs on the roster. They could have double-dipped earlier on the defensive line to get Darius Alexander. They could have added another piece in the secondary like Benjamin Morrison, Shavon Revel Jr., Azareye’h Thomas, or Darien Porter. Two of those players had pre-draft visits with the Steelers.
That opportunity cost makes the trade look even worse in hindsight.
And I haven’t even mentioned his horrible decision to get into an altercation with a fan, putting the team’s season in jeopardy at a critical juncture.
Through one of the five years, the Metcalf trade doesn’t look good. That doesn’t mean it was a miss. There’s still plenty of time to make things right. The concern is that he may never have a top quarterback throwing him the ball again. But on the bright side, he should soon be surrounded by more receiver talent to draw attention away from him. He always shone in Seattle with Tyler Lockett or Jaxon Smith-Njigba across from him.
Will the Steelers make another significant trade Sunday before the start of tampering? They certainly could. They have 12 draft picks to work with, and almost certainly won’t end up making that many selections by the time the draft rolls around.
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