The Pittsburgh Steelers have been in need of additional depth at wide receiver after trading WR Diontae Johnson to the Carolina Panthers earlier this week. They are reportedly adding Van Jefferson to the room on a one-year deal, per Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Jefferson was originally a second-round pick out of the University of Florida to the Los Angeles Rams in 2020, but spent part of last season with the Atlanta Falcons. There, he would have been with Steelers OC Arthur Smith. He was traded to the Falcons for a 2025 pick swap. The Falcons received a 2025 seventh-round pick and the Rams received a 2025 sixth-round pick.
In his career, he has 113 receptions for 1,600 yards and 10 touchdowns. His best season was back in 2021 when he started all 17 games for the Rams during their Super Bowl run. Since then, he has only started 18 games over the last two seasons.
Under Arthur Smith, he started five games in 12 total appearances and had 12 receptions on 28 targets for 101 yards.
With Allen Robinson II recently being released, and the Johnson trade, this will add a depth piece to the room. Given his recent production and his usage in Smith’s offense in Atlanta, he is a depth player, as Dulac noted in his report.
According to PFF’s charting, he has played about 40 percent of his snaps in the slot and 60 percent out wide. They also do not have him charted as having any special teams snaps. For being a depth receiver, that does not bode well for his spot on the roster when cutdowns happen at the end of the preseason.
This is not the flashiest signing, but right now, the Steelers need bodies in the receiver room. They will likely look to add more in the coming days and weeks, and it will be a position high up on their priority list in the 2024 NFL Draft.
The contract details haven’t surfaced yet, and we will update you when they are, but here is the best guess at his contract via our Dave Bryan.
