This offseason for the Pittsburgh Steelers was unlike most others because they spent so much of it swept up in trade rumors. The Steelers usually aren’t involved in rumors surrounding star players, but Brandon Aiyuk was a different story. Most of the news cycle around Aiyuk pointed to him getting traded to the Steelers if he got moved at all. These rumors are still ongoing, even if it seems just as likely that he’ll stay with the San Francisco 49ers.
Analyst Mike Florio believes it might be too late for the Steelers to acquire Aiyuk though. Speaking on his podcast Pro Football Talk, Florio discussed how it might be too late for the Steelers to strike a deal for Aiyuk.
“You gotta get [Aiyuk] in time to get him ready,” Florio said. “[It’s] almost too late. You can’t just plug and play a receiver. It’s not like trading for a third basemen in baseball. You gotta get a guy who can understand the offense and get comfortable with the players. He’s moving across the country for crying out loud. If they’re gonna do it, it needs to be done yesterday.”
Florio brings up a lot of good points. Aiyuk won’t just magically know how to fit in the Steelers offense if he gets traded. He’ll need time to learn the playbook. The 49ers offense is much different than the Steelers offense, and his role in both would also be different. There are a lot of moving pieces involved.
Building chemistry with the starting quarterback is also very important for a receiver, especially a star. There are little nuances to a player’s game that their teammate can only learn by practicing with them. Maybe Russell Wilson likes certain routes to be run differently than Aiyuk is used to. Things like that can totally throw a play off if both players aren’t aware of them.
Aiyuk is also a father, and if he gets traded to Pittsburgh, he and his family would have to move across the entire country. That isn’t easy to do once the season starts because things will be extremely busy. On top of all the regular work he’ll need to do, Aiyuk would have to cram to get acclimated to the Steelers offense.
Like Florio says, there are just a lot of obstacles in the way of the Steelers trading for Brandon Aiyuk. He’s a great player and he would instantly make the offense better, but the time to pull the trigger may have passed. Maybe it just makes more sense for Aiyuk to stay with the 49ers. The Steelers receiving corps could use a serious boost, but the 49ers have dragged this out so far that an Aiyuk trade may not be worth it for anyone involved anymore.
