The Pittsburgh Steelers love pedigree and happen to have a need at wide receiver, and with the Tennessee Titans seemingly moving past former first-round pick Treylon Burks, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell thinks the Steelers should swoop in. In an article naming 10 moves that should happen throughout the rest of the offseason, Barnwell has the Steelers trading for Burks.
“One team that has been comfortable taking shots on talented receivers in the past? The Steelers, who usually mitigate that risk by drafting those wideouts in the middle rounds while trusting they can get the most out of them on the field,” Barnwell writes. “Pittsburgh didn’t seem to pursue Burks in 2022, when it was focused on Kenny Pickett in the draft, but had Burks been available in the second or third round, that might have been a different story.”
Barnwell notes that Burks is due over $8 million this season and that the Titans will need to eat money or attach a draft pick with Burks to be able to move him. Obviously, that’s a lot of money for a marginally productive wide receiver. Burks has just 49 receptions for 665 yards and a touchdown since entering the league, and in 2023, he had just 16 receptions for 221 yards, of which 70 of those yards came on just one catch.
Last season was supposed to be a breakout season for Burks with the Titans also adding DeAndre Hopkins in free agency, but it just didn’t happen. If you’re a fool who gave up a first-round pick for him in your dynasty fantasy football league betting on the breakout (like me), you’re hoping for a change of scenery after the Titans also added Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd via free agency this offseason. That leaves opportunities for Burks slim this season, although Titans head coach Brian Callahan hinted that the team wants to keep Burks.
It just seems hard to believe given where he’s going to be on the depth chart that the Titans wouldn’t consider moving Burks for future draft capital, even if it’s not much. Barnwell’s proposal is Burks to Pittsburgh for a 2026 sixth-round draft pick, with Tennessee eating $6 million of the money Burks is due in 2024.
For the Steelers, that’s something I think could be palatable to them, getting a player who clearly had first-round talent who just hasn’t lived up to his billing for next to nothing. After trading Diontae Johnson, there’s still a hole in the receiver room that’s yet to be filled, and Burks could slide into that role on the outside opposite George Pickens.
The Steelers might look into adding a bigger name at wide receiver, like Courtland Sutton, but if they can’t work something out, Burks is an interesting flier. There’s a chance he doesn’t work out and that the first-round talent was just a mirage, but for a sixth-round pick with Tennessee eating most of the salary, it’s worth the risk and Burks could see the field immediately in Pittsburgh.
