After months of speculation, the Steelers finally did what I’ve been prepping you for all offseason — they traded George Pickens. Whatever your thoughts on Pickens, the clues pointing towards his eventual departure have been there over the past year. Like any place of employment, an NFL team will have times when a talented player is not meshing with the workplace culture. As Pickens' time in Pittsburgh wore on, it became clear that Pickens was both talented and a personality the Steelers were increasingly finding untenable for the team ethos they hoped to achieve.

This trade should invite some retroactive criticism of the Steelers' draft, even if I think the trade is ultimately the right call. Pittsburgh was unable to convince a team to fork over a Day 2 pick in the 2025 draft for Pickens, but they were clearly still open to trading him. In Read & Reacts review of the draft, Ryland Bickley and I caught some flak for mentioning our concerns that the team didn’t target a receiver in the draft — especially in the fourth round when one of the draft’s most Arthur Smith-coded prospects, Stanford receiver Elic Ayomanor, was still available — but this move only hammers home our concerns about receiver depth.

So, where do the Steelers turn now? They may be willing to gut it out with Calvin Austin III, Roman Wilson, Robert Woods, Scotty Miller, and Ben Skowronek behind DK Metcalf. That would signal a team selling out to run the ball and would likely feature a heavy dosage of 12 and 13-personnel packages. It would also become one of the least inspiring groups in the league heading into the new season.

Let’s take a look at some realistic options, starting with the open market.

Free Agents

Photo by Brooke Sutton/Getty Images

Looking at the names of available free agents won’t inspire much optimism from Steelers fans. Keenan Allen (33) and Amari Cooper (31 in June) have the most name recognition, but both are well past their primes. Allen was never known for his run-blocking prowess, and while Cooper is at least respectable as a blocker, he’s been nagged by injury in recent seasons and had the fewest receiving yards (547) of his career in 2024.

How the Steelers plan to deploy their WR2 could say a lot about who they pursue. If the Steelers plan to use several single-receiver sets, they might not be as worried about bringing in a dynamic pass catcher as much as they are about finding willing participants in the run game. With that in mind, two veterans to keep an eye on are Chris Conley and Nelson Agholor.

Conley received PFF’s second-highest grade for run blocking among receivers while playing in San Francisco’s zone-heavy scheme. Agholor checks a lot of those same boxes, having previously played in run-heavy offenses like Philadelphia and Baltimore. Neither receiver has demanded much of a target share in recent seasons, so a signing would likely be dependent on their blocking chops. Conley also provides some special teams versatility.

Some other names that the Steelers might check out are Gabe Davis, DJ Chark, and Tyler Boyd, but I have questions about all three.

After setting career highs in receiving in 2022, Davis’ production has cratered, which led to his release from Jacksonville after just one season. Davis’ route tree mostly consists of vertical routes, which might be superfluous with Metcalf’s skill set. He’s shown unreliable hands in the past, and outside of his 2021 season, he’s been graded in the bottom half of the league as a run blocker by PFF.

DJ Chark has played for three teams in three years since leaving the Jaguars. Chark is another tall, lanky speedster with many of the same flaws to his game as Davis. Unlike Davis, Chark does have a 1,000-yard season to his name, but that came in 2019, which feels like ancient history at this point.

Boyd has a better track record as a blocker, though that has significantly fallen off over the past three seasons, according to PFF. So has his production, first getting crowded out by the Bengals' talented receiving duo, and then failing to crack 400 yards for a Titans’ team with little competition outside of Calvin Ridley. And I can’t help but shake that the Steelers could have signed him last season, but they didn’t show much interest.

One last name Steelers fans should keep an eye on is Allen Lazard. Lazard is still currently under contract with the Jets, but is a likely candidate to be cut post-June 1st. Lazard joined the Jets because of his relationship with Aaron Rodgers, and could find himself in Pittsburgh for a similar reason, should Rodgers every decide to make it official.

The Trade Market

Photo by Jane Gershovich/Getty Images

With the available free agents combed over, we can turn our gaze to potential trade targets. Unfortunately, the timing is far from ideal for the Steelers. Pickens was the most talented wideout receiving trade speculation, so the Steelers are unlikely to swing another trade as high-profile as their trade for Metcalf.

That means the Steelers are looking for trade partners who have a crowded receiver room and/or a player on the last year of a deal. If their team drafted a receiver during one of the first two days of the draft, that is another strong indicator of a team that might be willing to move a veteran player.

Taking that into account and looking at the rosters of other teams, these are the teams that stick out as potential partners: Green Bay, Chicago, Minnesota, Tampa Bay, Denver, and Houston.

Green Bay

Green Bay makes the most sense due to their abundance of receivers. Rookie first-round pick Matthew Golden is off the board, but would the Packers be willing to move a player like Jayden Reed?

Reed comes off the field the most as Green Bay has relegated him primarily to the slot, but he offers some versatility and playmaking ability that could be appealing to the Steelers. But with two years remaining on his rookie contract, the Packers may be more willing to move guys like Christian Watson or Romeo Doubs, both of whom are free agents after the 2025 season.

Doubs might be the best fit for Pittsburgh, considering all of the dirty work he does for the Packers. Doubs isn’t the most technical blocker, but he shows enough enthusiasm to believe he’d buy into Pittsburgh’s offense. He’s also served admirably as Green Bay’s “sacrificial X,” a term coined by Yahoo’s Matt Harmon for an X-receiver who opens things up for other pass catchers based on how he is deployed.

Watson comes with some significant medical red flags, but when he’s been healthy, he’s the closest the Packers have had to a true, big-play receiver. Watson is averaging 16.9 yards per reception for his career. In limited time in 2024, he averaged 21.4 yards per reception. I would question the fit, as I think Watson would be even more superfluous with Metcalf than Pickens was. However, if the Steelers truly are intrigued by having a pair of size-speed demons on the outside, Watson would make a ton of sense.

If the Steelers are scraping the bottom of the barrel, Bo Melton is another name worth keeping an eye on. Melton isn’t as short as Calvin Austin and Roman Wilson, but he’s your classic kick return specialist who has shown some wiggle when he’s gotten on the field as a receiver.

Chicago

Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin via Imagn Images

If there is one relatively big-name receiver to keep an eye on, it’d be Chicago’s D.J. Moore. Moore would form an intriguing combo with Metcalf stylistically, with Metcalf filling the traditional X-receiver role and Moore finding openings in the underneath and intermediate areas as a Z-receiver.

With a new head coach in town, questions about his effort last year, and youngsters Rome Odunze and Luther Burden III on the roster, the Bears have already hinted at some discontent with Moore.

Whether or not that is typical offseason rumor mongering remains to be seen, but if the Bears would entertain it, Moore would easily be the most talented receiver on our list. Moore already has four 1,000-yard seasons to his name and 35 touchdowns since being drafted in 2018. Because he entered the league so young, Moore’s still only 28 years old.

The Steelers would have to vet the character traits and decide they’re willing to pay two receivers over $20 million a year to make this happen. It’s unlikely, but it would have felt negligent to ignore.

The Best of the Rest

Green Bay may have the most options potentially available, but there are several other teams with wideouts matching our criteria.

Minnesota drafted one of my draft gems, Tai Felton, in the third round. With Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison under team control through at least 2027, that means Jalen Nailor, on the last year of his rookie deal, could be available.
I would consider Tampa Bay a longshot, but they can’t be ruled out entirely. Mike Evans is effectively in the last year of his deal and would be a great complement to Metcalf. However, the Buccaneers' season would need to be in ruins before the trade deadline for them to even consider parting with him. They also resigned Chris Godwin and drafted Emeka Egbuka, both guys who are used heavily in the slot. So, where does that leave second-year slot receiver Jalen McMillan, one of my draft gems from 2024? It would be shocking to see them move on after he secured 8 touchdowns and 461 yards as a rookie, but if he’s getting edged out of playing time, it’s worth the call from Omar Khan.
Neither Denver nor Houston has players I’m particularly high on, but they have jumbled rooms that felt worth mentioning. Denver seems unlikely to cut ties with Courtland Sutton after the rookie season Bo Nix put forth, but the Steelers have been linked to him in the past. Any of Marvin Mims Jr., Devaughn Vele, or Troy Franklin might be interesting as players to take a flier on if they lose time to incoming rookie Pat Bryant. In Houston, Nico Collins is not going anywhere, nor are rookie wideouts Jayden Higgins or Jaylin Noel. However, John Metchie III or Justin Watson could be names that could be subjected to roster cuts in Houston’ crowded room, which also includes undrafted rookie Daniel Jackson, another one of my 2025 draft gems.

What do you think? Would you be happy with any of these players? Who do you think best fits what the Steelers do on offense? Let us know in the comments!