The Pittsburgh Steelers haven’t struck a deal with a big-name free agent yet, but they have made a splash move. Before the legal tampering period opened, the Steelers traded for wide receiver DK Metcalf and signed him to a massive extension. It wasn’t something the Steelers usually do, but it does help fix their receiver problem. However, Trevor Sikkema of Pro Football Focus believes trading for Metcalf was a bad move by the Steelers.
“Unless the Steelers trade George Pickens for some sort of return, maybe like a third-rounder or something, I think this is crazy,” Sikkema said recently on PFF’s YouTube channel. “I think this is bad business by the Pittsburgh Steelers. They’re getting a good receiver, but you traded a near-top-50 pick for a wide receiver who has the same skillset as a receiver that you already have, who is younger and currently on a rookie deal.
“And you also traded for the receiver who, by far, leads the NFL in penalties for the position since he came into the league in 2019. He has more than double the accepted penalties against him that the second-place guy has. By the way, the second-place guy is George Pickens.”
It’s fair to criticize the deal. The Steelers did give up a valuable draft pick for Metcalf and paid him an extremely rich contract. Receiver isn’t their only weakness. Those resources could’ve been better spent elsewhere. The Steelers don’t even have a quarterback right now, so doing all that for Metcalf seems a little bold.
However, at least now, it might be a stretch to call the trade bad business. The Steelers had a massive hole at receiver. Besides Pickens, they didn’t have another reliable weapon in that room. That was a problem last year. Going into this offseason, upgrading at receiver was near the top of the Steelers’ to-do list.
Metcalf was arguably the best player on the market. He’s been named a Second-team All-Pro once and has made two Pro Bowls. Sikkema makes it clear he likes the player, but the fit seems to be in question.
DK Metcalf WIDE OPEN for a 56-yard TD!
📺: #SEAvsNE on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/nLjzMeiUub— NFL (@NFL) September 15, 2024
“You basically had this same receiver in every single way, and you decided to go trade a near-premium top-50 pick and give him $30 million a year on a five-year deal. I just don’t know how the DK Metcalf deal makes the Pittsburgh Steelers better.”
Metcalf and Pickens are not the exact same player, either. They’re both best used as deep threats, but they win in different ways. Pickens is at his best making contested catches, while Metcalf wins downfield by just being bigger, faster, and stronger. Just because they’re both deep threats that have attitude issues doesn’t mean they’re the same player.
There’s no guarantee Pickens is going to be in Pittsburgh long-term, either. He’s in the last year of his deal, and it was always unclear if the Steelers were going to give him an extension. Now, it doesn’t seem like that’s going to happen. Metcalf might be a little older, but he’s proved more in the NFL. He allows the Steelers to not be handcuffed to Pickens.
Is having two fantastic deep threats worse for the Steelers than what they previously had at receiver? It should force defenses to take their passing attack more seriously, which should open up opportunities in the run game. Adding Metcalf does make the Steelers better.
