Ever since the Pittsburgh Steelers whiffed on trading for Brandon Aiyuk, wide receiver has been a glaring need. While HC Mike Tomlin tried to suggest otherwise, the evidence in most weeks was apparent on the field. Rather than landing an obvious starter, they ended up spending a fifth-round pick on Mike Williams.
Of course, Aiyuk ended up suffering a season-ending injury for the 49ers, but, you know, butterfly effect. That doesn’t mean Aiyuk would have done the same thing had he agreed to the Steelers trade. But the point is, they let the position go all offseason waiting on him and hurt themselves. Mark Kaboly believes it may have done some good, all the same.
“The deal was on the table and done, and he ran over and said, ‘No, I’ll do this’. I mean, you’re taking it to the final moment of the race until you’re like, ‘No, okay, I give in’”, Kaboly said on 93.7 The Fan talking about the Steelers’ failed trade for Brandon Aiyuk. “He was close and he was gonna come here. And I think they learned something from that”.
A lookalike of the Steelers’ head coach, Brandon Aiyuk is a former first-round pick of the 49ers. Over the 2022-23 seasons, he caught 153 passes for 2,357 yards and 15 touchdowns in a run-heavy offense. And he did that playing with QB Brock Purdy, let’s not forget. He would have been an obvious upgrade for the Steelers, especially after trading Diontae Johnson.
In fact, despite saying they probably learned a lesson, Kaboly also defended the waiting game. “The Aiyuk thing, did [the Steelers] have a better option at that point? Would you rather them hold out and almost get him, or go find a Christian Kirk or whatever? It was almost worth it if you had a good feeling he might have come here”.
Reportedly, they targeted Kirk for an in-season trade, but an injury prevented that from happening. They just watched the Jaguars trade him, so that ship has sailed once again. It’s unclear what the Steelers will do this year, some even suggesting trading for Aiyuk.
This offseason is actually shaping up to be an interesting one. Assuming the Steelers apply their lessons learned from the Brandon Aiyuk fiasco, they should come away with a quality veteran wide receiver during free agency.
Among those available or potentially available are Davante Adams, Stefon Diggs, Keenan Allen, Chris Godwin, Amari Cooper, Tyler Lockett, DeAndre Hopkins, Brandin Cooks, Darius Slayton, DJ Chark, Elijah Moore, etc. Absent an Aiyuk-type player, the Steelers had to make ends meet with the likes of Van Jefferson and Scotty Miller in-season. They can’t let that happen again. And if they’ve learned anything from the past year, according to Kaboly, they won’t.
