Steelers Now
The Pittsburgh Steelers need a wide receiver.
That sentence has been true for about a year and a half now, with the team shedding a starting wide receiver via trade in consecutive offseasons without really being able to replace them.
General manager Omar Khan traded Diontae Johnson for a cornerback in the spring in 2024, and wasn’t able to replace him, missing on a Brandon Aiyuk trade at the 11th hour and settling for a trade deadline acquisition in Mike Williams that did not go well.
This year, he sent George Pickens packing in May, and again wasn’t able to add another starting outside wide receiver to the room to complement DK Metcalf and Calvin Austin III.
Now that Austin is hurt, and expected to miss playing time, the need has gone from acute to a near-emergency for the Steelers at wide receiver.
Former third-round pick Roman Wilson can help replace Austin in the slot, but the Steelers do not have another obvious choice at outside receiver, with veterans Scotty Miller and Ben Skowronek providing stop-gaps, at best.
So is there a wide receiver that is or could be on the market that could help the Steelers? As you can imagine, the pickings are slim.
There are relatively few teams that would be willing to give up on a player four weeks into the season, and only a few more will get there over then next month. The competitive balance giant that is the NFL ecosystem keeps too many teams from falling out of contention too early, and many of the teams that do fall out of contention will be playing young quarterbacks, and won’t want to impact their development by taking away their most-important targets.
So basically, you’re left with two categories of players that might be available over the next few weeks: players on bad teams that don’t have young quarterbacks and veterans who have fallen out of favor on their current squad.
After a quick search of NFL depth charts, here’s what I’ve come up with:
This is probably the most appealing name on this list. Meyers requested a trade this offseason. The Raiders said no, and with new optimism with new head coach Pete Carroll and quarterback Geno Smith, that made sense. After a 1-3 start — and with games against the suddenly good Indianapolis Colts and Kansas City Chiefs coming up before the deadline — it’s easy to see how that stance may weaken.
Meyers is in the final year of his contract, he’s making $10.5 million this season, and while I don’t think Mark Davis is hurting for the cash, it seems clear that Meyers won’t help the Raiders win anything at this point. Why throw good money after bad?
On the field, Meyers has been solid if unspectacular, bringing in 21 of 33 targets for 258 yards. But his absence won’t hurt Smith any, and there...
