The Pittsburgh Steelers put the cart before the horse when they traded for WR DK Metcalf on Sunday evening. What good is a receiver, if they don’t have a viable quarterback throwing them the ball? After the first day of the legal tampering period, the Steelers find themselves between a rock and a hard place at the position with no real desirable options left.
“Imagine what DK Metcalf is thinking right now,” Orlovsky said this morning via ESPN’s Get Up. “You just traded for me, you gave me $150 million. You better get somebody to throw me the ball, or all the antics and the personality that people talk about, we’re gonna see it very quickly.”
According to a Dianna Russini report shortly after Metcalf requested a trade, he was looking for warm weather and a stable QB situation. His agent has since refuted the warm-weather claim, but of course he wanted a stable QB situation. No good receiver wants to be catching passes from a different quarterback every year, holding back their stats and future earning potential.
So the question then becomes, what in the world did the Steelers tell him as part of their plan? Did their $33 million per season average in new money make him forget about his other preferences, or did the Steelers sell him on a legitimate plan at the QB position?
Justin Fields was apparently their top choice as they put in an offer last week, but he has agreed to sign with the New York Jets. Sam Darnold could have been an intriguing splash for the Steelers after his 14-3 season last year, but he instead signed with Metcalf’s former team for slightly less money than many expected.
That leaves the Steelers with two viable (but not exciting) options. Do they reunite Metcalf with the QB for the first three seasons of his career and run it back with Russell Wilson? Or do they kick the tires on 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers, who managed to win only five games last year with a pretty talented roster? If you’re Metcalf, is there already a sense of regret creeping into the back of your head?
Who knows, maybe the Steelers let him know up front that this year would likely be difficult at quarterback before they make an aggressive move in the 2025 or 2026 NFL Draft to get their future franchise guy.
