I don’t think anyone would argue that the Pittsburgh Steelers would have a better wide receiver corps if they traded for the Los Angeles Rams’ Cooper Kupp. He’d immediately become the WR2 behind George Pickens. He has 52 touchdowns in 94 regular-season games and another seven in seven playoff games.
The big hindrance could be the Rams’ reported asking price of a second-round pick. Kupp has dealt with injuries for the last two years. He only played in nine games in 2022 and 12 in 2023. And he has missed the Rams’ last four games with an ankle injury.
And what about the Steelers’ quarterback situation? Do they believe they have the quarterback of the future on their roster currently between Russell Wilson and Justin Fields? Danny Parkins doesn’t think so.
“What I don’t get from the Pittsburgh side is you don’t have your quarterback of the future,” Parkins said Thursday on Breakfast Ball. “You don’t. It’s not Justin Fields; that was proven out over six games. And I don’t think it’s gonna be 35-year-old Russell Wilson just because he had one really good game. So the second-round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers is gonna be a top-50 pick, assuming they miss the postseason. That’s a really valuable pick if you want to move up in the first round and select your quarterback of the future. I don’t think Russell Wilson has earned, by any stretch of the imagination, giving up a top-50 pick for an old, injury-prone wide receiver. Like to prove what, to win a wild-card game?”
Obviously, Parkins is not high on the Steelers’ prospects both this season and next. The Steelers are 5-2 and second in the AFC North thanks only to the Baltimore Ravens’ win over the Cincinnati Bengals. So they’re in prime position to secure at least a wild-card berth in the playoffs this season. Adding a wide receiver of Kupp’s stature would only benefit the Steelers. Parkins even admits that later in the segment.
But Parkins doesn’t feel confident that making a move for Kupp would transform the Steelers into a Super Bowl contender. And evidently, he also has no confidence in either Fields or Wilson being a winning starting quarterback for the Steelers going forward.
And, if that’s actually true, his argument makes sense. A second-round pick can help facilitate a move in the draft for your preferred quarterback. Or it can be used for a young, talented player who will hopefully make an impact for a long time. Parkins seems to think Kupp wouldn’t be sticking around in Pittsburgh for very long, especially compared to a draft pick.
But did Fields’ six games as the Steelers’ starter prove that he can’t be the franchise quarterback? Well, Wilson doesn’t think so. He even called Fields “a franchise quarterback” after what he proved in the first six games of the season. And heck, if the Steelers can protect Wilson from taking a lot of hits this season, he could keep playing for a few more years.
So if trading for Cooper Kupp could help the Steelers win 13 games this year as Ray Fittipaldo believes, that second-round pick in 2025 won’t be a top-50 pick. That changes the complexion of this trade completely.
But does that even mean the Steelers are going to pony up a second-round pick for Cooper Kupp right now? Mike Florio believes that general manager Omar Khan is going to slow-play this move to bring the price down. And after the Kansas City Chiefs traded for WR DeAndre Hopkins and the Buffalo Bills traded for Amari Cooper, two potential suitors for Kupp are probably out of the mix.
So perhaps the Steelers can bring that price down a bit. But what’s for certain is that if the Steelers make the move, they’re committed to a successful 2024.
“It would be telling me that they absolutely think they’re winning playoff games with Russell Wilson,” Parkins said. “It is a win-now move.”
And head coach Mike Tomlin already proved he’s in win-now mode by moving from Fields to Wilson after a 4-2 start. Tomlin is hungry for playoff success, something that’s eluded him since 2016. And the rest of the organization feels the same way.
