The wide receiver room for the Pittsburgh Steelers underwent a significant overhaul this offseason. A number of new faces are in, including rookie Roman Wilson, and veterans Van Jefferson, Quez Watkins, and Scotty Miller.
Gone is veteran Diontae Johnson.
It’s a new room featuring new faces and new skill sets.
It’s also one of the cheapest rooms in the NFL, currently.
According to Warren Sharp of Sharp Football Analytics, the Steelers’ wide receiver room ranks 31st in the NFL in total cap hit at just $11.7 million. The Steelers rank just ahead of the Green Bay Packers, who check in at $11.5 million.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Steelers’ wide receiver room is so cheap. George Pickens, Calvin Austin III, and Wilson are all still on rookie contracts. Jefferson and Watkins are both on veteran benefit deals, keeping the price down, and Miller is expected to be on a veteran benefit deal as well.
The Steelers rebuilt the room, turning it over significantly this offseason. So far, they’ve been rather smart financially. Avoiding long-term deals in free agency, they haven’t tied up money long-term in the room, saving some cash for when Pickens is up for a new deal, which will likely be significant, especially if he takes big leap again in Year 3.
Just because the room is cheap from a total salary cap hit standpoint doesn’t mean it’s a poor one.
The top two at the list in San Francisco ($55.0m) and Seattle ($54.7m) have some dominant rooms featuring names like Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, DK Metcalf, and Tyler Lockett. But Dallas at No. 3 with $51.2 million doesn’t seem all that good outside of CeeDee Lamb.
Three of the final four teams left standing last season in the Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions and Baltimore Ravens all ranked back-to-back-to-back in Sharp’s list. The Chiefs checked in at No. 25 with $22.9 million at the receiver position, while the Lions were 26th with $20.7 million. Baltimore was 27th with $20.3 million.
That price tag should go up for Detroit once Amon-Ra St. Brown’s extension kicks in, so it certainly spent some money there. But it goes to show that spending big on the receiver room doesn’t always equal success.
Pittsburgh fans should read that last sentence again.
Yes, the Steelers still have a significant hole at receiver on the roster, but just because they’ve went relatively cheap in free agency and in the draft at the position doesn’t mean they haven’t identified sound players at the position who can contribute and fill their roles in new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith’s scheme well.
Of course, this all becomes a moot point if GM Omar Khan takes a big swing this summer and trades for one of the receivers they’ve been speculated about as a landing spot for, like Samuel, Aiyuk, Metcalf, or even Denver’s Courtland Sutton.
The Steelers would rise up the rankings if they landed one of those big-name receivers, and would solidify the position group overall. But right now, they have a cheap room compared to the rest of the NFL, and have one sizable hole that still needs filled, even with the franchise going quantity over quality so far.
