Steelers Now
Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pro defensive tackle Cam Heyward has a simple message to Steelers fans who are fretting over the George Pickens trade — “don’t panic.”
“I’m sure guys have talked about it, but I think the main thing is, and this is a PSA for all Steeler fans: don’t panic, stay patient, we’ll get to work,” Heyward said on his* Not Just Footbal*l podcast. “I think sometimes we can jump off the ship and think the ship is sinking. We got work to do. And, you know, whoever won the offseason isn’t gonna win the regular season, is not gonna win the Super Bowl.”
The Steelers seem to have put themselves in a very similar position to that of a year ago at wide receiver after trading George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys. General manager Omar Khan disagrees with that sentiment, though.
“We wouldn’t have done this if we didn’t feel good about the receiver situation, about our depth here,” Khan said. “I know people make comparison to last year, but it’s not even close to being the same.”
The Steelers spent a months-long pursuit of 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk last offseason before he ultimately signed a four-year, $120 million contract extension with San Francisco.
That left them with Pickens and not much after him.However, after acquiring wide receiver DK Metcalf from the Seattle Seahawks and then moving on from Pickens, it’s difficult to argue Pittsburgh isn’t in the same spot. “We made the investment in DK,” Khan continued. “We’ve had another year with some of the young guys, gotten to know them, watch them develop. We added Robert Woods. Roman’s [Wilson] healthy, seeing him the last couple of weeks out here and how he’s doing. We saw how he was progressing at the end of last year. Obviously, he didn’t have a chance to get on the field, but there was some excitement there. We have a good group.”
The Steelers expect second-year wide receiver Roman Wilson to make a Year 2 jump, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.
Fowler notes that Wilson looks like a different player this offseason, compared from his injury riddled rookie campaign.
Along with Wilson and Metcalf, the Steelers’ wide receivers room includes Calvin Austin III, Robert Woods, Ben Skowronek, Scotty Miller, Lance McCutcheon, Brandon Johnson, Ke’Shawn Williams and Roc Taylor. To say the least, the Steelers’ current crop of wide receivers leaves a lot to be desired.
The Steelers could bolster the WR corps via a free agent signing or trade, but Wilson definitely needs to live up to his third-round pedigree regardless.
Aaron Becker provided reporting for this story.
Former NFL wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh revealed some key details on why the Pittsburgh Steelers traded George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys earlier this week. It lines up with previous reports. The Steelers quite simply had enough with Pickens’ antics.
“George Pickens had stepped over and crossed the line a bit too many times and I know people that play with the...
