WR Allen Robinson II caught five passes for 64 yards in his debut with the Pittsburgh Steelers this past Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers. That was already better than his best game last season with the Los Angeles Rams. He caught five passes for 63 yards in the sixth game of the 2022 season against the Carolina Panthers—although he did score a touchdown as well, one of three on the season.
Granted, Robinson is still searching for his first score in the Black and Gold, but the point is, early indications are good with respect to the Steelers’ anticipated return on investment after acquiring the veteran via trade this offseason.
The Rams were looking to dump Robinson and his contract this offseason but struggled mightily to find a trade partner for him coming off a down season. It didn’t help matters that he was also healing from a foot injury that ended his year prematurely.
In terms of draft capital, the Steelers did pay extremely little to bring him in, but they are still on the hook for $5 million. He is also due a base salary of $10 million in 2024 if they decide to keep him. The fact that they asked him to remove a $5 million roster bonus he was due to earn next year as part of the deal suggests that they are very much open to it.
And if he can continue to be a dependable target the way he was in the opener, things may be trending in that direction. Granted, $10 million is still expensive, but that’s a bridge to cross when you get to it. There are always negotiations to be made. They worked things out with QB Mitch Trubisky this offseason.
A former Pro Bowler with three 1,000-yard seasons under his belt, Robinson’s career as he approached 30 was taking an undesirable direction. Dealing with injuries and less-than-ideal quarterback situations—first with a rookie Justin Fields in Chicago in 2021 and then a banged-up Matthew Stafford last year in Los Angeles—contributed to that as well.
Now, does that mean that he is on the path to his first 1,000-yard season since 2020 just because he caught five passes for 64 yards on Sunday? No, of course not, although the averages over a 17-game season would work out to 1,088 yards on 85 receptions.
With Diontae Johnson expected to be sidelined for at least a few weeks, Robinson is also likely to see even more opportunities over the coming month. He showed in the opener that he can be an asset, and even caught QB Kenny Pickett’s only deep completion for 31 yards late in the fourth quarter.
Robinson saw even more targets in the game (eight) than did George Pickens (seven), though both Johnson and Calvin Austin III also saw six, the former exiting early in the second half due to injury. The Steelers aren’t going to throw the ball 46 times every week—hopefully not—but it does look like Robinson is going to give them what they expected this year, and what they needed.
