For over a month now, there have been rumors floating around the media landscape about the Pittsburgh Steelers acquiring a wide receiver via trade. From Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel of the San Francisco 49ers to Courland Sutton of the Denver Broncos, every couple weeks there has been a new name receiving all the buzz. These rumors picked back up after the draft with former Steelers CB Bryant McFadden teasing on X that GM Omar Khan was about to acquire a significant playmaker for the Steelers. McFadden reportedly later told 93.7 The Fan that despite the obvious connection to his cousin, Patrick Peterson, the impending move was for a wide receiver.
Broncos reporter Mike Klis of 9NEWS posted on X responding to the speculation surrounding Sutton being a possible trade target, and said there are no plans to trade Sutton.
“It’s not Courtland. No plans to trade him,” Klis wrote. “As Paton and Payton let Broncoland know in recent weeks, Sutton in good standing.”
So far, there have been no major Steelers insiders joining in on all the buzz for a possible trade. All we have to go off is McFadden’s somewhat cryptic tweet and a local radio station boosting that signal into many different possible avenues the Steelers could go.
To me, it has seemed unlikely that a major trade would occur after the draft. The critical pressure point that the draft creates came and went and no trades happened. Unless they are trading in a player for player swap of some sort, the time to make a trade for draft capital would have been last week before the draft, or during the event itself. Though the Steelers did clear some cap space prior to the draft via an Alex Highsmith contract restructure, which was curious timing.
The night is winding down, and still no trades or big moves have been announced, so we will just have to wait to see what tomorrow holds. Or perhaps we will continue waiting, and the rumors will continue swirling only for nothing to happen at all. The Steelers do need an additional receiver, but teams usually trim their roster down following the draft, and there might be a veteran that can be signed without any trades having to be made.
