The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2021 season is over, already eliminated from the postseason after suffering a 42-21 loss at the hands of Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. They just barely made the postseason with a 9-7-1 record and a little help from their friends.
This is an offseason of major change, with the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger, the possible retirement of general manager Kevin Colbert, and the decisions about the futures of many important players to be made, such as Joe Haden, Stephon Tuitt, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and others.
Aside from exploring their options at the quarterback position, the top global priority, once again, figures to be addressing the offensive line, which they did not do quite adequately enough a year ago. Dan Moore Jr. looks like he may have a future as a full-time starter, but Kendrick Green was clearly not ready. Chukwuma Okorafor is heading into free agency, as is Trai Turner.
These are the sorts of topics among many others that we have been exploring on a daily basis and will continue to do so. Football has become a year-round pastime and there is always a question to be asked. There is rarely a concrete answer, but this is your venue for exploring the topics we present through all their uncertainty.
Question: Will the Steelers sign another wide receiver in free agency, and if so, who might they target?
The Steelers lost 60 percent of their opening-day wide receivers last week, with JuJu Smith-Schuster signing with the Kansas City Chiefs, James Washington with the Dallas Cowboys, and Ray-Ray McCloud with the San Francisco 49ers.
While they still have Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool at the top of the depth chart, the rest of the wide receivers that have on the roster haven’t played much for them. Cody White spent most of the season on the 53-man roster as the fifth receiver, but rarely played. They also have a couple of veterans with some experience, Anthony Miller and Steven Sims, who spent most of last season on the practice squad.
Given what they’ve lost, it is inevitable that they will have to add another wide receiver this offseason—realistically, probably two. Technically, they signed Gunner Olszewski, but he is almost exclusively a special teams return man. In three seasons with the New England Patriots, he has played a total of 253 offensive snaps.
Okay, so that doesn’t technically mean that he won’t have a role on offense. After all, McCloud only played 122 snaps in his two seasons before joining the Steelers. He ended up playing 538 snaps last season, albeit mostly due to Smith-Schuster’s injury.
Still, they’re not going to bank on Olszewski being their number three. While they’ll most likely draft a wide receiver, it seems there’s a fairly decent chance that they add a veteran, as well. So will they do so, before the draft, and if so, who might that be? Jarvis Landry and Will Fuller are two of the biggest names still available. You can consult this list as a handy reference, but note that it’s not 100 percent up to take.
