When Pittsburgh wound up with Mike Williams at the NFL trade deadline, many Steelers were hoping their team would make a bigger splash at the wide receiver position. The issue is finding a needle-moving weapon a team would be willing to part with.
Davante Adams had already been traded to the Jets, and the recent resurgence of the LA Rams meant Cooper Kupp was no longer on the table. However, one prominent receiver wasn't 'untouchable' at the NFL trade deadline.
The latest rumor from Andrew Fillipponi of 93.7 The Fan suggests that Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk believed DK Metcalf was available for trade... at a steep cost. The rumor suggests it would have taken 'at least a first-round pick' to get a deal done for Metcalf.
For a two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver in the prime of his NFL career, this is an acceptable price tag.
While Mike Williams will be an upgrade over Van Jefferson for the Steelers, his presence on the field is nothing like what Pittsburgh could have had with Metcalf. At 27 years old, Metcalf has already racked up 568 yards and three touchdowns in 7 games this season.
Metcalf is cruising to another 1,000-yard season, and the Pro Bowl receiver has averaged 1,000 yards per year since coming into the NFL in 2019.
There's a good chance Pittsburgh plans to spend a first-round pick on a wide receiver anyway. But why wait? Metcalf is already a proven commodity who had the best season of his career in 2020 with Russell Wilson leading Seattle's offense. In his second year, Metcalf raked in 1,303 yards and 10 touchdowns while averaging an outstanding 10.1 yards per target.
Not only does Metcalf already have chemistry with Wilson, but he also would have helped this team compete for a Super Bowl right now. With a top-ten defense and an offense featuring George Pickens and DK Metcalf as deep threats, the Steelers would have been incredibly hard to stop.
The Steelers didn't sit on their hands at the NFL trade deadline when they landed both WR Mike Williams and EDGE Preston Smith. But these guys aren't going to move the needle as much as a superstar player would have.
A trade for Metcalf would have been costly. The Steelers were likely looking at giving up a first-round pick along with a future Day 3 selection on top of giving the star receiver a massive contract after the 2024 season.
Regardless of the cost, these are the type of needle-moving trades that can vault squads from a playoff team to a Super Bowl contender. If Metcalf really was on the table before the NFL trade deadline, the Pittsburgh Steelers should have given up everything but the kitchen sink to land him.
