Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: the Pittsburgh Steelers are interested in trading for a superstar wide receiver. It feels like Groundhog Day in Pittsburgh, with the team reportedly going after Davante Adams of the Las Vegas Raiders. This may remind some fans of the Brandon Aiyuk saga, but hopefully this situation ends better for the Steelers. Former NFL safety Devin McCourty believes Mike Tomlin would be the perfect coach to get the most out of Adams.
“I think of Mike Tomlin, and you give him Davante Adams, we saw what Mike Tomlin was able to do with Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell,” McCourty said Thursday on Pro Football Talk. “Yes, that team fell short a bunch of times, but when we got to see those guys in other places, we realized, ‘Wow, Mike Tomlin’s a genius.’ Not only did they win football games, but he handled all those different personalities.”
Adams doesn’t carry the baggage that Brown and Bell had, but he does seem to have an assertive personality. He’s been with two teams, and he’s requested to be traded from both of them. With the Green Bay Packers, it was about money. With the Raiders, it’s about not being used correctly on the field.
In that way, Brown and Adams are similar. Brown always wanted the ball, no matter what. Adams seems to feel the same way. However, that could be said about most superstar receivers. They know how talented they are, and they want to show that week in and week out.
Tomlin did a great job managing that aspect of Brown’s personality. Part of that was because he had Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback, but Tomlin was also an important piece of that equation.
“I just think of Mike Tomlin and Davante Adams going there, how fast they could get on the same page. It could be all pushed toward that team winning,” McCourty said. “Not all of the extra stuff, it would be strictly about winning. That would be fun to see, and I think Mike Tomlin would be able to handle everything that comes along with that.”
It could be argued that no one has been better at focusing on winning and minimizing distractions than Tomlin. Brown and Bell aren’t the only examples. The Steelers have had multiple talented players on offense who caused a little too much friction off the field. In those case, Tomlin has not hesitated to move on. He wants volunteers, not hostages.
Adams reportedly would be fine going to Pittsburgh, so maybe we will find out if McCourty is correct. With Justin Fields looking like a capable quarterback, the Steelers’ offense could reach new heights with Adams opposite George Pickens. The Steelers’ run-heavy scheme may need to be tweaked slightly, but with so much talent, that probably wouldn’t be a bad thing.
