Steelers fans nursing any illusions that they might sign Pittsburgh-area native WR Tyler Boyd watched their hopes smash against the rocks. The eight-year veteran signed a one-year contract with the Tennessee Titans earlier this week after spending months on the open market. But the reality is the Steelers realized early that he was never a viable candidate for them.
“Tyler Boyd wasn’t an option for the past couple of months, to be honest with you”, The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly insisted during an interview with Joe Starkey on 93.7 The Fan on Wednesday. This is notable because Kaboly previously pushed the Steelers as an option for him. “They weren’t interested in him. They had initial interest to see where it was, but they didn’t want to pay him. Tyler wanted more than one year”.
A former second-round pick, Tyler Boyd spent the entirety of his first eight seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals. Over that time, he caught 513 passes for 6,000 yards and 31 touchdowns. He also added another 21 catches for 199 yards and one touchdown in seven postseason games.
Last season saw his least productive year of his career, however, partly due to QB Joe Burrow’s health. He only caught 67 passes for 667 yards and just two touchdowns. Between the 2018-2022 seasons, Boyd caught 370 passes for 4,505 yards and 26 touchdowns.
Many believe the Steelers will still add a significant wide receiver before the start of the regular season. They were heavily connected to trade rumors for receivers like Brandon Aiyuk and Courtland Sutton. While we can’t completely rule out the possibility of such a trade occurring, it feels increasingly unlikely at this point. Even with a dwindling free agency market at wide receiver, Boyd didn’t seem like a fit after the Steelers drafted Roman Wilson in the third round.
“Obviously, they don’t have interest in him after the draft. That’s obvious there because of the Roman Wilson thing”, Kaboly said of Tyler Boyd. “But they never really were all in on him. They checked in on him. They tried to get him to sign for lesser money. But, hey, they just didn’t view him as a guy that was a high priority right now”.
Given that Boyd only signed a one-year contract worth “up to” $4.5 million should tell you how the rest of the league viewed him as well. I’m guessing that he didn’t leave much money on the table. Entering his age-30 season, he’s past his prime at this juncture, and not much better than what the Steelers already have.
Pittsburgh has already explored other teams’ unwanted pieces. They’ve signed two wide receivers who played under new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith in 2023, for example. They added Van Jefferson early and are also reportedly adding Scotty Miller now. In between, they also signed former Eagle Quez Watkins as a deep threat.
George Pickens is at the top of the Steelers’ depth chart, and they also have Wilson and Calvin Austin III. The rest of the players on the roster are just names right now, even if you might recognize some of them. How much would Tyler Boyd really stand out from them at this point in his career? Especially for a slot receiver.
