Steelers Now
Over the past eight months or so, the Pittsburgh Steelers jettisoning of wide receiver George Pickens felt inevitable. But with the timing of the deal on Wednesday morning, they’ve put themselves in both a familiar and uncomfortable situation heading into OTAs: without a proven WR2 on the roster.
As you’d expect at this point in the proceedings, the free agency options are pretty bleak, leaving a trade as their best avenue for an upgrade. Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst should be their first call.
Over the course of my lifetime, the two best organizations at identifying and developing wide receiver talent have been the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers. The latter is in a much better situation as we sit here today, so much so that they have an excess of talent that they won’t be able to properly utilize. After selecting Matthew Golden in the first round and doubling back with Savion Williams a day later, it leaves an uncertain future for some of their established core players.
Gutekunst will be adding Golden and Williams to a group that includes 2023 draft picks Dontayvion Wicks and Jayden Reed and 2022 picks Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs.
As Doubs is entering the final year of his rookie contract, he’s the most likely odd man out in this situation. As a fourth-round pick out of Nevada, he stepped into the Packers’ X-receiver role and quickly earned the trust of Hall of Fame signal caller Aaron Rodgers. Doubs has good size (6-foot-2, 201 pounds) and massive 10-inch hands. He really shines with the ball in the air because of his body control, toughness and ability to pluck the ball away from his frame. He’s caught 52.5% of his contested catch targets since 2022, another example of how his ball skills have translated early on.
Aaron Rodgers hitting Romeo Doubs on the back-shoulder fade for a score in the 4th quarter.
At the time, he was a rookie going through some growing pains (had a fumble and a drop earlier in this one).
But it's pretty clear that he had earned the QBs trust. That's impressive. pic.twitter.com/sYv2sZx8ru
— Derrick (@Steelers_DB) May 7, 2025
Last year was a tough one for Doubs as he suffered a concussion and was suspended following a dust-up with the organization. But when studying his targets from last season, his improvements as a route runner were noticeable despite his high-cut build. The Packers have really leaned into a receiver-by-committee approach since the departure of Davante Adams, but in critical situations, the ball seemed to head in his direction. That speaks to his steadiness as a player.
Doubs has improved as a route runner since his days at Nevada.
Pretty sick blaze out to get the CB turned around. pic.twitter.com/7b16JJBqA5
— Derrick (@Steelers_DB) May 8, 2025
Doubs’ red-zone prowess, movement patterns and play-style remind me of another former Packers receiver in James Jones. The lack...
