Jason La Canfora is the latest NFL insider to weigh in on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ ongoing search for a starting wide receiver opposite George Pickens. He’s as confident as anyone they’re going to find someone not currently on this roster to fill that role.
“I’m pretty bullish on the Steelers,” La Canfora told In the Huddle’s Carl Dukes of Pittsburgh’s 2024 outlook. “They’re going to add a receiver at some point between now until the trade deadline. That’s going to happen. They’ve budgeted for it. They’ve been trying to make it happen. I’d be stunned if it doesn’t.”
Though he doesn’t expand on it, his comments about the Steelers having “budgeted for it” might be a reference to the contract restructure they did with OLB Alex Highsmith 24 hours before the draft. At the time, it signaled a trade was imminent and comments from ex-GM Michael Lombardi suggests Pittsburgh thought it had made a deal with San Francisco.
While that didn’t materialize, the Steelers are in a good place with the salary cap and can easily clear additional room to add a starting-caliber contract. Finding the “who” is the tough part. Brandon Aiyuk seems to be in a contract stalemate with the San Francisco 49ers, but the organization clearly hasn’t been willing to easily part with him. He would also be an expensive addition in contract and draft capital, especially knowing Pittsburgh may have to pay Pickens next summer.
The Denver Broncos’ Courtland Sutton is cheaper but doesn’t appear to be being shopped. Denver’s already traded one wide receiver in Jerry Jeudy. They probably don’t want to empty the cabinet and give rookie QB Bo Nix no one to throw to, an issue Carolina’s Bryce Young struggled with in 2023.
Lower-caliber players like Tennessee’s Treylon Burks and Indianapolis’ Alec Pierce are more realistic but wouldn’t be the splash addition the team has been angling for.
Pittsburgh’s search, and this story, will continue until the team makes a move, someone internally emerges, or the trade deadline passes. The deadline is a week later than past years, now the Tuesday after Week 9, thanks to a proposal submitted by the Steelers and adopted by the NFL earlier this offseason.
