The Pittsburgh Steelers trimmed their offseason roster down to 53 active players on Tuesday and that group of players now includes just five wide receivers in George Pickens, Van Jefferson, Calvin Austin III, Scotty Miller, and rookie Roman Wilson. That wide receiver position group, at least from a 2024 cash spending perspective, is indeed one of the lowest ones in the NFL currently. However, it isn’t the lowest.
Currently, the Steelers five wide receivers have 2024 cash totals that amount to $6,682,140. Wilson leads all five Steelers wide receivers with a 2024 cash total of $1,793,304. Why does a rookie lead the vets? He received a rookie signing bonus to go along with his minimum base salary of $795,000. Remember, we’re talking about total cash earned in 2024 for each individual player. Not their salary cap charge.
Behind Wilson in 2024 cash earning his Pickens at $1,318,836, now in the third year of his rookie deal. As for Jefferson and Miller, both of whom signed one-year veteran benefit contracts with the Steelers earlier in the offseason, they each are scheduled to earn $1,292,500 in 2024. That leaves Austin, who is also now in his third NFL season, bringing up the rear in 2024 cash earnings with $985,000.
Before doing some deep research this week, I thought for sure that the Steelers would have the cheapest wide receiver room in the NFL after all team’s trimmed their rosters down to 53 active players. However, as it turns out, the Green Bay Packers currently own that distinction. And not only do the Packers currently have a cheaper wide receiver room than the Steelers do, they also have one more receiver on their roster than Pittsburgh.
That group of six Packers wide receivers includes Christian Watson, Jayden Reed, Romeo Doubs, Dontayvion Wicks, Malik Heath, and Bo Melton. Combined, those six Packers wide receivers are set to earn $6,351,493 in cash in 2024, a lower amount than the Steelers five wide receivers.
Those six Packers wide receivers have not, however, combined to outproduce the Steelers five wide receivers in the NFL so far in catches and yardage. Here’s how each side stacks up in the regular season.
Receptions
Steelers: 330
Packers: 304
Yards
Steelers: 4,806
Packers: 3,849
Touchdowns
Packers: 37
Steelers: 26
The Steelers’ receivers have more receptions and yards while the Packers have a clear lead in touchdowns. Combined, the Packers six wide receivers have played in a total of 102 regular season games while the Steelers five wide receivers have combined to play in 179 total regular season games. Once again, one of those five Steelers wide receivers, Wilson, is only a rookie and obviously hasn’t played in a game.
Now, before everyone gets too bent out of shape reading this post, let me remind everyone about the seven wide receivers that Kansas City Chiefs had on their active 53-man roster for Week 1 of the 2023 regular season. That list of seven wide receivers included Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Skyy Moore, Kadarius Toney, Rashee Rice, Justyn Ross, Richie James, and Justin Watson.
That room of seven Chiefs wide receivers was not exactly murderer’s row on paper and while their combined total cash earnings in 2023 was a little bit more than the Steelers five wide receivers this year, it was near the bottom of the NFL for that position group at the time. Obviously, however, the Chiefs had and have QB Patrick Mahomes, making those receivers all the better.
While those seven Chiefs wide receivers combined to catch 191 passes for 2,293 yards and 13 touchdowns in the 2023 regular season, only one of them, Rice, registered more than 27 total receptions during the regular season. Rice had 79 receptions for 938 yards and seven touchdowns during the regular season.
Will the Steelers going cheap at wide receiver in 2024 wind up being the team’s downfall this season? We’ll have to wait and see. Total team cash spending doesn’t necessarily equate to wins and certainly not to Super Bowl championships.
For the Steelers to win games in 2024, and possibly make a deep playoff run, their play at the quarterback position, along with how effective the offense is at running the football, will be the biggest overall factors. While the Steelers wide receiver room doesn’t stack up well on paper compared to most other teams in the NFL, especially not from a 2024 cash spending perspective, that unit includes a big-time playmaker in Pickens.
In closing, the Steelers can win their fair share of games in 2024 with their current wide receiver room but likely not mainly because of that group of five. Their record and success in 2024 on offense will be determined mainly by the other skilled positions, primarily what happens at quarterback.
