How would WR Brandon Aiyuk look in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Black and Gold — or perhaps Deebo Samuel? While that potentiality came close to passing during the draft, it could still happen before the regular season.
Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette continues to speculate that the Steelers will make a significant move at wide receiver, and he believes a trade for one of the San Francisco 49ers’ wide receivers is the most likely option. Either Aiyuk or Samuel would obviously be a starter upgrade for this Steelers offense.
“I do think, yes, they will have a No. 2 receiver on their roster in September who is not currently on the roster now,” Fittipaldo told Joe Starkey on 93.7 The Fan on Friday. Pressed further about who he thought that receiver would be, Fittipaldo elaborated.
“I think [Brandon] Aiyuk or [Deebo] Samuel. Given what the 49ers have done, drafting Ricky Pearsall in the first round, signing [Jauan] Jennings,” he said. “I think there’s another shoe to drop out there in San Francisco. They have too many good receivers, and they’re not gonna be able to pay all of them.”
Even though he honed in on Aiyuk and Samuel from San Francisco, Fittipaldo didn’t want to exclude other options. Later during the segment, he brought up Courtland Sutton from the Denver Broncos as well. He noted a number of wide receivers unhappy with their current situation.
“There’s gonna be plenty of options for the Steelers,” he said.
We have seen the Steelers wait out a trade before. They acquired QB Justin Fields for a conditional sixth-round pick in a buyers’ market. But we don’t know how motivated the 49ers are to sell. They do have a lot of wide receivers now with Aiyuk and Samuel, the rookie Pearsall and Jauan Jennings. In fact, they just extended Jennings, suggesting they see a bigger role for him.
There is some evidence to suggest that the Steelers really thought a trade was imminent. Shortly before the draft, they restructured OLB Alex Highsmith’s contract to open up cap space. They had no immediate pressing reason to do that at that time. After the draft, general manager Omar Khan acknowledged the move gave them the flexibility to make a move if the right situation presented itself.
The 49ers have under $9 million in cap space right now, which is a narrow margin in this era. They owe Aiyuk $14,124,000 this season, and Samuel’s compensation tops $21 million. In an offense with RB Christian McCaffery and TE George Kittle, that’s a lot of wide receiver money.
Whether you’re tired of hearing it or not, I don’t think the idea of the Steelers adding another starting wide receiver is anywhere near dead. Just because they didn’t finish a deal during the draft doesn’t mean they won’t in training camp.
Fittipaldo also pointed out that there’s no guarantee the Steelers give George Pickens a second contract. If you trade for Brandon Aiyuk, you’re trading for your No. 1 receiver. And Aiyuk is still only 26 years old. He has proven himself, while Pickens is still in the process of doing so.
