The Pittsburgh Steelers ought to think carefully before adding Brandon Aiyuk, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk says. They have found themselves at the center of the bulk of trade rumors over the San Francisco 49ers wide receiver. Nothing as yet has materialized, but reports indicate that they have pursued the option.
In doing so, however, the Steelers would have to commit to giving Aiyuk a new contract. And Aiyuk will want a huge new contract, likely at least $30 million per season or more. The 49ers reportedly offered as much as $26 million per year, and he’s going around saying they don’t want him.
The thing is, the Steelers probably figure on paying George Pickens next year. They view him as their No. 1 receiver, but how does that change if they trade for Brandon Aiyuk? Do they make Aiyuk their top receiver, or do they want to pay two receivers $60 million-plus per year? And how does paying an outsider like that affect the locker room?
“This is a new one, and this one is dangerous”, Florio said about the precedent Pittsburgh signing Aiyuk would set during an interview on 93.7 The Fan. “I think the Steelers are one of those teams that understand the value of the message that gets sent by rewarding the guys who have shown up, carried the lunch pails, punched the clock, all the clichés, done the right things. When you start giving the financial rewards to guys who have never played for you before, that’s when the locker room starts saying, ‘Hey, what the hell’”?
The Steelers are one of the few organizations that hold to pretty strict financial principles. It took them a generational talent in T.J. Watt to finally offer second-year guarantees to a non-quarterback. They have only subsequently done so with Minkah Fitzpatrick, a great at his position in his own right. And they pay attention to the financial hierarchy, which acquiring Aiyuk would interrupt.
Even though he looks like Mike Tomlin’s long-lost son, Aiyuk is not a Steeler, and has not battled with the men in this locker room. But if the Steelers were to sign him, he would presumably be given the largest contract anybody not named Ben Roethlisberger has ever received from them. Roethlisberger maxed out at $34 million per season on a two-year extension in 2019.
Watt is the current highest-paid Steeler at a little over $28 million per season. If Aiyuk is balking at $26 million, the Steelers would probably have to pay him more than that. And how would George Pickens take the trade news? He seemed to struggle sharing the limelight with Diontae Johnson.
Aiyuk will command 100-plus targets, if not more. If the Steelers were to pay him what he wants, you would want to get your money’s worth, anyway. But how many targets are there to go around, ultimately? And how would the rank and file of the locker room, particularly those looking for bigger roles and bigger deals, receive this outsider receiving the red-carpet treatment?
