WR Market Is Quiet, But What Players Could Steelers Land Late in Camp?
Steelers GM Omar Khan said the NFL wide receiver trade market is quiet right now, but who could become available later in training camp?
UNITY TWP., Pa. — Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan said there is nothing going on in the NFL wide receiver trade market during his press conference at the start of training camp on Thursday, and while Khan has said a lot of things this offseason that later turned out not to be true, there’s plenty of reason to believe him this time.
Brandon Aiyuk has reported to training camp with the San Francisco 49ers, and him holding out was likely a prerequisite to the 49ers coming around on the idea of being OK with trading him. San Francisco wants to win a Super Bowl. They’re not going to get better by trading him away. Unless he was going to refuse to play, the idea of him being traded this offseason was dead on arrival. One Steelers source sold said this week that the idea of trading for him was always “unrealistic,” and that since the draft, has been essentially put to bed from their end.
Courtland Sutton is another player that could have fit Pittsburgh’s needs, but he just signed an updated contract with the Denver Broncos. I don’t really understand this one, as the Broncos just ate all of Russell Wilson’s salary cap hit in 2024 and are one of the handful of teams that are almost certainly already out of contention for Super Bowl LIX. Sutton didn’t even get the guaranteed money he was asking for, but another $2.1 million in incentives from the Broncos seems to have placated him. He also said he wants to be a Bronco for life and end up in Denver’s Ring of Honor. I don’t get it, but that seems like another stable situation that is not going to end up in a trade.
Darius Slayton also got more money out of the New York Giants. The Cincinnati Bengals would have to be drugged or threatened with physical violence to ever consider trading one of their disgruntled wide receivers to the Steelers. Who is left? CeeDee Lamb? Good luck getting “all-in” Jerry Jones to part with his star receiver unless that relationship gets super sideways.
The two ways that players get traded this time of year is players that are unhappy and force an exit from their previous team, and players that get passed by others on their own depth chart and suddenly become expendable.
The Steelers love adding players like that late in the process. They’ve snapped up guys like Vance McDonald, Ryan Switzer, Ahkello Witherspoon and others in late-camp or pre-season trades. They were also active in that market the other way last season, shipping out Kevin Dotson and Kendrick Green on the eve of the season.
It’s a little bit too early in the game for that second group of players that might be available to truly begin to be identified.
“Believe it or not, it’s still early in the process here,” Khan said on Thursday, and he’s right. The Steelers will likely have to wait if they want to make an upgrade to their wide receiver room following their March trade of Diontae Johnson.
But that doesn’t mean that you and I can’t speculate about the kind of players that might be available. Let’s take a look at some player that appear to be in tenuous depth chart positions right now around the NFL:
JuJu Smith-Schuster, New England Patriots
On one had, the Steelers have plenty of slot receiver options with Calvin Austin III looking like he’s ready to continue his very strong spring and Roman Wilson expected to eventually become a contributor, as well.
On the other hand, neither of those guys is as big or as physical as Smith-Schuster is. He’d immediately become the team’s best run blocking wide receiver, and that could be a good for Arthur Smith’s run and play-action heavy scheme.
The years haven’t been kind to JuJu as the injuries have piled up, and he managed just 29 catches for 260 yards last season with the Pats. He’s due $7 million this year, which the Steelers could afford, but feels over-priced for his recent level of contribution.
He’s no longer a bona fide WR2, but Smith-Schuster would likely still represent an upgrade to the Steelers’ room.
John Metchie III, Noah Brown or Robert Woods, Houston Texans
The Texans have a glut of wide receivers, as the club brought back Brown, Nico Collins, Tank Dell, Metchie and Robert Woods from last season and then added Stefon Diggs and Ben Skowronek in trades this offseason.
Collins, Diggs and Dell seem locked into starting roles, with the other three on the second team. That’s gonna make for a pretty expensive and/or unhappy WR6 come cut-down time, and whoever ends up at the back of the Houston pack could be a prime trade addition.
The 6-foot-2, 215-pound Brown had 33 catches for 567 yards and two touchdowns for Houston last season, essentially matching his 2022 numbers from Dallas. Those aren’t killer numbers, but it’s better than what Van Jefferson or Quez Watkins has done lately.
Metchie is an upside swing who has had a similar career arc to Austin. He missed his entire rookie season after undergoing cancer treatments and a knee injury. Last year, he caught 16 passes for 158 yards in a limited role. The attributes that made him a second-round pick out of Alabama are still there, but it seems to hard to imagine them being utilized in Houston this season.
The 32-year-old Woods almost feels like acquiring Allen Robinson all over again. He’s big and he can block, but his best days are definitely behind him. He still caught 40 passes for 426 yards last year — nothing to sneeze at — but it’s an open question as to how long he can maintain that production.
Treylon Burks, Tennessee Titans
Treylon Burks was supposed to be the Titans’ replacement for A.J. Brown when Brown was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2022. But the No. 18 overall pick that year out of Arkansas has not lived up to his billing so far. In two seasons, he has 49 catches for 665 yards and just one touchdown.
Earlier this offseason, the Titans were aggressive in adding free agents Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd to their wide receivers room. When combined with incumbent star DeAndre Hopkins and veteran Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, that pushed Burks to fifth on the depth chart, or perhaps the trade market, where the Steelers could be among his potential suitors. He has two more years under contract and a fifth-year option for 2026 remaining.
Skyy Moore or Justyn Ross, Kansas City Chiefs
If Rashee Rice ends up avoiding a suspension this season, it’s possible that both of these players could be available, but it seems overwhelmingly likely that at least one of them will be. The acquisitions of Hollywood Brown and Xavier Worthy has bumped all of KC’s wide receiver depth down a peg, and these two will likely be behind Mecole Hartman, Kadarius Toney and Justin Watson, making sixth on the depth chart the ceiling with Rice in the mix. Kick returner Nikko Remigio also has to be considered.
Moore, a New Kensington native, has shown questionable hands at times, with a 55.3% catch rate last season, but he has also shown to be able to get open in tough spots. Last season, 13 of his 21 catches caused a first-down conversion. Moore is a bit undersized and probably provides a lot of duplication to what Austin already brings to the table, but he is under contact for two seasons at a very reasonable rate.
Ross, on the other hand, is 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds. The Clemson alum was undrafted in 2022 and missed the entire season with an injury. Last year, he was suspended six games for a domestic violence arrest and ended up catching just six passes or 53 yards on the season. He’s certainly a reclamation project at this point, but there is some talent there. Ross will be an RFA after this season.
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