When the Pittsburgh Steelers traded with the Seattle Seahawks for Pro Bowl wide receiver DK Metcalf, there were plenty of fans who questioned whether this was a wise move. Not only did general manager Omar Khan send a second-round pick to Seattle, but the Steelers also turned around and handed Metcalf a five-year extension at $30 million per season.
But after the dust settled on the 2025 NFL Draft, it's easy to see that this was a wise decision.
Pittsburgh previously held the 52nd overall pick in the draft before the trade. This pick was traded to the Titans during the draft, who turned in their card for UCLA edge rusher Oluwafemi Oladejo—a player who ranked just a handful of spots higher than Jack Sawyer on the consensus board (who the Steelers drafted at pick No. 123).
We can't use one questionable decision to justify why the Steelers made the right call, so let's look at the other names that went after pick No. 52 in the second round.
Beginning with pick No. 53 through the end of the second round, the players selected in the 2025 NFL Draft were CB Benjamin Morrison, OT Anthony Belton, WR Tre Harris, OT Ozzy Trapilo, OG Tate Ratledge, WR Jack Bech, EDGE Mike Green, RB RJ Harvey, CB Trey Amos, DT Shemar Turner, DT Omar Norman-Lott, and SAF Andrew Mukuba.
Now, you tell me which of these players you'd rather have than DK Metcalf.
The Pittsburgh Steelers' DK Metcalf trade looks brilliant after the 2025 NFL Draft
When you dissect the options that would have been in play for the Pittsburgh Steelers at pick No. 52, you can see that there wasn't a gamble that would have been better for this team. While I would have been intrigued by players like Mike Green and Trey Amos, Green fell due to character concerns, and Amos wouldn't have offered the same value as a cornerback who would begin his NFL career on the bench.
If you want to look at the wide receiver options only—considering the Steelers may have been forced to go this route—the options look even worse.
With Jayden Higgins and Luther Burden III long off the board in Round 2, the next wide receivers selected after pick No. 52 were Tre Harris and Jack Bech. Harris had a limited route tree and is a 23-year-old prospect coming out of Lane Kiffin's offense at Ole Miss, while there are concerns about Bech's speed.
The early third-round wide receiver options included Washington State's Kyle Williams, Arkansas' Isaac TeSlaa, and Illinois' Pat Bryant.
You're not going to talk yourselves into believing that any of these wideouts in an underwhelming receiver class would have been a better option than DK Metcalf. Between the second-round pick and the massive contract, the Pittsburgh Steelers gave up a lot in the trade, but they already look like geniuses after how the draft board fell this year.
