Patriots Waive Productive WR, Fit for Steelers?
The New England Patriots are waiving wide receiver K.J. Osborn, according to a report by Adam Schefter of ESPN, and the Pittsburgh Steelers could be a team to put in a claim.
The move is mutual one as the 3-10 Patriots are looking to younger players and want to give Osborn a chance to land somewhere else. The 27-year-old is playing on a one-year contract with the Patriots.
Osborn will go through the waivers process, where any team can make a claim. That team would then need to keep him on their 53-man roster, and would owe him the remainder of his $1.18 million base salary and $40,000 per game in roster bonuses for the rest of the 2024 season. The waiver order is the inverse order of NFL standings, so the 10-3 Steelers would need 25 other teams to pass on Osborn in order to land him.
The 5-foot-11, 200-pound Osborn was originally selected by the Minnesota Vikings in fifth round of the 2020 NFL Draft out of Miami. He spent four seasons with the Vikings, and after playing sparingly as a rookie, became a reliable target in 2021. Osborn had three remarkably consistent seasons in Minnesota from 2021-23, catching 50, 60 and 48 passes for 655, 650 and 540 yards while playing in all but one game.
Osborn had trouble finding playing time in New England. He’s been dressed for just seven games this season and hasn’t played since Nov. 10. On the year, he has just seven catches for 57 yards.
The Steelers could be a fit for Osborn because star receiver George Pickens has a hamstring strain and could miss his second straight game against the Philadelphia Eagles this week.
Though the Steelers do have five other receivers on their active roster and Brandon Johnson on the practice squad, none of their other options have been as consistently good as recently as Osborn as the NFL level.
Read This Next
