As the Pittsburgh Steelers reportedly continue to “scour” the wide receiver market, both in free agency and via trade, the market is dwindling a bit after a pair of moves Wednesday morning.
The Carolina Panthers traded veteran Adam Thielen to the Minnesota Vikings, a team the Steelers will face in Week 4 in Dublin, Ireland, while the Detroit Lions traded veteran Tim Patrick to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Both are relatively minor moves but continue the trend of teams trading for or signing wide receivers ahead of the start of the 2025 season.
Those two moves come one week after Skyy Moore, Devaughn Vele and John Metchie III changed teams, and one day after veteran Amari Cooper signed a one-year deal with the Las Vegas Raiders, who received a trade request from their own wide receiver in Jakobi Meyers.
For the Steelers, there are options available, but they seem to be dwindling as teams are making moves.
Of course, the Steelers could go the free agent route and add a player like Gabe Davis, whom they’ve had to their South Side facility twice now for visits. Or they could sign Odell Beckham Jr., who has expressed an interest in playing for the team.
One player the Steelers appear to be showing interest in is Marquez Valdez-Scantling, who was released by the Seattle Seahawks earlier in the week and has had great success with Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the past. According to NFL insider Aaron Wilson, Valdez-Scantling is choosing between the Steelers and the San Francisco 49ers, who are dealing with a significant number of injuries at the receiver position.
Another name that makes sense for the Steelers is second-year pro Malachi Corley, who was waived by the New York Jets on Tuesday. He has a history with Rodgers, too, and had a pre-draft visit with the Steelers last offseason. Not to mention, Steelers wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni was at Corley’s Pro Day and put him through drills at Western Kentucky.
Options are out there for the Steelers to upgrade the receiver position behind DK Metcalf, especially with Calvin Austin III still working his way back from an oblique injury. Roman Wilson and Scotty Miller had nice training camps and made plenty of plays in the preseason, but the Steelers need another boost to the position.
We’ll see if GM Omar Khan makes a move at receiver in the next few days. If he does, there are some names that make sense. But the market is seemingly moving quickly, especially via trade.
