The 2024 OTAS are underway for the Pittsburgh Steelers and with that, we are getting our first reports about the rebuilt wide receiver room. How rebuilt is it? Well, of the 11 wide receivers currently under contract with the Steelers, only two of them, George Pickens and Calvin Austin III, were on the 53-man roster last season. To be quite honest, the rest of wide receiver room beyond those two players and rookie Roman Wilson, a third-round draft pick this year, looks very bland and unappetizing. In short, the Steelers’ 2024 wide receiver room still needs more infusion of catches and cash this summer.
As things stand with the first week of the Steelers’ 2024 OTA practices winding down, the team doesn’t have a ton of cash invested in its wide receiver room. In fact, the 11 wide receivers currently under contract with the Steelers, which includes one player now on the Reserve/Injured list in Keilahn Harris, have a total cash spend total for 2024 of $12,404,640. The largest 2024 cash spend of that group of 11 wide receivers is Wilson at $1,793,304 and that’s only because of his rookie signing bonus of $998,304. Behind Wilson is third-year wide receiver George Pickens, who is set to earn just $1,318,836 in 2024 as part of his rookie contract.
Outside of Wilson and Pickens, the other nine wide receivers currently under contract with the Steelers all have minimum base salaries for their respective credited seasons in the league. Sure, a few of those nine were given signing or roster bonuses this offseason, but none of those exceed $167,500. In short, this is as cheap of a wide receiver room that an NFL team can put together in today’s age.
While the Steelers’ list of 11 wide receivers currently under contract does include several players with NFL game experience, only two of them, Pickens (115) and Van Jefferson (113), have caught more than 100 passes so far. Combined, the 11 wide receivers have 558 receptions for 7,849 yards and 40 touchdowns. Three of the 11 wide receivers, Wilson (rookie), Harris, and Duece Watts, have yet to register an NFL catch.
As far as 2023 receiving production goes, those 11 wide receivers combined to have 126 receptions for 1,832 yards and nine touchdowns. Obviously, Pickens had a huge chunk of those stats and six of the 11 wide receivers under contract failed to contribute any receiving stats in 2023.
Career Receiving Stats & 2024 Cash Costs Of Steelers WRs Currently Under Contract
Look, I am excited to see what Pickens can do in his third season, especially with it seeming like the Steelers upgraded their quarterback room this offseason. Additionally, Austin will be in his third season in 2024 and one can’t help but think he’ll easily outproduce the 17 receptions for 180 yards and one touchdown that he registered in his second season. Even so, one must temper their 2024 expectations for him as well as Wilson because of the latter being a rookie. Outside of those three wide receivers, there’s really not too much to get overly excited about at the position, and obviously only a few of those remaining eight players will wind up making the 53-man roster once the summer dust settles.
On Tuesday, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin spoke about the wide receiver position group after the team’s first OTA practice of 2024 after being asked about it. As part of that question, Tomlin was asked if he thinks the wide receiver group could possibly still be added to moving forward. While his overall response was generic in nature, at least he didn’t rule out the possibility of the Steelers adding to their wide receiver room.
“You know, I’m pleased with the work that we’re getting from that group,” Tomlin said of the team’s wide receivers on Tuesday. “I like the overall trajectory of it. We’ve got some young and developing players, some guys that are excited about showing what they’re capable of. But, you know, we’re always open to, adding not only to that group, but any group. That is our mentality. But I would imagine that that’s the mentality of those that we compete against as well. We continually try to get better in all areas.”
Like it, or not, the Steelers still really need to do everything they can to add a “significant playmaker” at the wide receiver position between now and the start of the 2024 regular season. The only problem with that is that the remaining list of free agent wide receivers isn’t very appetizing at all. In short, any catch and cash infusion at the wide receiver position moving forward into the offseason would likely need to come via a trade.
Should a trade for a wide receiver ultimately happen at this point, one can easily speculate that such a transaction would come after June 1. The “reasonable candidates list” for such a trade is still short just the same, however, and likely includes the likes of just Courtland Sutton, Jauan Jennings, and Darius Slayton, if we’re being honest. Yes, I have given up all hope that the Steelers will trade for one of DK Metcalf, Brandon Aiyuk, or Deebo Samuel at this point. If you haven’t, well, I am perfectly fine with that.
The Steelers’ offseason cash spending to date, along with their current salary cap situation, signal that it’s very plausible for the team to still add a “significant playmaker” at the wide receiver position moving beyond OTAs. If, however, such a cash and catch infusion does not happen at the wide receiver position prior to the start of the 2024 regular season, I sure hope the offense is able to run the football at will once the games get underway in September.
