The Pittsburgh Steelers missed out on a potential trade target, as the Washington Commanders are sending former first-round pick Jahan Dotson and a fifth-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for a 2025 third-round pick and two seventh-round picks in a rare division rival trade, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.
The Steelers are in pursuit of San Francisco 49ers star wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, but Dotson could have been a fallback option. Dotson’s now heading to Philadelphia instead, joining fellow Penn State product Saquon Barkley. The Steelers will see Dotson and the Eagles in Week 15 at Lincoln Financial Field.
Dotson, who was a first-round pick by the Commanders in 2022, recorded 35 catches for 523 yards and seven touchdowns in 2022, and 49 catches for 517 yards and four touchdowns last season. Dotson is a blazing-fast wide receiver, as he recorded a 4.43 in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine.
Dotson joins a Eagles wide receiver corps that features top-flight wideouts A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. They also have a solid tight end in Dallas Goedert and Pro Bowl running back Saquon Barkley, who was acquired this offseason. The Eagles, who went 11-5 last season and appeared in the Super Bowl in 2022, should be a tough test for the Steelers in Week 15. The Steelers also have not won in Philadelphia since 1965.
Dotson is from Newark, N.J., but he went to high school in Nazareth, Pa., which is about an hour north of Philadelphia.
Dotson played his college ball at Penn State, recording 183 catches for 2,757 yards and 25 touchdowns in 42 games. He set a school record with 242 receiving yards in a November 7, 2021 game against Maryland.
Dotson also set the Penn State single-season record with a 24.6-yard punt return average and he earned All-American honors in his final season with the Nittany Lions.
With Dotson gone, Washington will rely on third-round pick Luke McCaffrey, Olamide Zaccheaus, and Dyami Brown to carry the load behind No. 1 wide receiver Terry McLaurin. The Steelers play Washington at Commanders Field in Week 10.
NFL insider Albert Breer expects the Steelers to look for another option at wide receiver if the Aiyuk trade doesn’t fall through.
“I do think the Steelers will keep looking for options at wide receiver—if the Brandon Aiyuk situation doesn’t work out for them,” Breer writes.
“And a sign of where they are at the position is how they rebuffed the San Francisco 49ers’ request for a player as part of any potential trade—which is why the Niners looked around at potential second trades, moving one of the picks coming from Pittsburgh—if they’d decided to take the Steelers’ offer (which was in the neighborhood of second- and third-round draft picks).”
Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports that Aiyuk and the 49ers haven’t budged in recent days and Aiyuk seems dug in, the Steelers are waiting and still in play.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, speaking on KNBR, attempted to update the Brandon Aiyuk situation.
“Oh, so much has changed. No, I’m just joking. No, no new updates. I’m sorry to keep being boring with that, but I wish I was saying something different, but nothing’s changed yet.”
