After being released earlier this week, former Tennessee Titans WR Treylon Burks is drawing plenty of interest. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport notes that Burks is set to visit with the Denver Broncos, the first of potentially several stops as Burks seeks his next home.
Rapoport doesn’t name who the other teams are. There’s a chance Pittsburgh is on that list. The Steelers have one of the league’s weaker wide receiver groups and the franchise has always had an affinity for high-pedigree former first-round picks.
The 18th overall pick in 2022, Burks failed to make an impact in Tennessee. In three years, he caught just 53 passes for 699 yards and one touchdown. His production decreased every season and in 2024 Burks caught just four passes across five games. He tore his ACL midway through the year and was placed on injured reserve. Healthy for the start of 2025 training camp, he broke his collarbone and landed back on injured reserve. Tennessee waived him from IR earlier this week.
While tweets like Rapoport’s are often drummed up by agents — Rapoport got caught reporting too early and incorrectly when Burks would be released by Tennessee — the fact Burks already has one visit lined up is proof of some level of leaguewide interest. Any team, including Pittsburgh, interested in signing Burks may consider doing so for the practice squad and not the 53-man roster. A common approach to take a look at a veteran without spending the financial or roster capital of adding to the Active/Inactive group.
Reports like these will create lots of local buzz over the idea of adding Burks. It’s worth asking how much merit those conversations actually have. Burks has shown little ability to impact the NFL game.
The odds of that changing in Pittsburgh seem low. Current backup receivers like Roman Wilson can’t find a role and historically, No. 3 receivers and beyond in Arthur Smith’s system are afterthoughts. If signed, Burks would just add to that list. A bust of a receiver joining an unfriendly scheme isn’t a needle-moving addition and if Pittsburgh has interest, Burks would be wise to look elsewhere.
