Just like last season, the Pittsburgh Steelers have a shaky situation at wide receiver.
After acquiring DK Metcalf in a trade with the Seattle Seahawks in the offseason, it looked like the Steelers had finally solved their wide receiver issue.
However, the team traded away George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys, putting the Steelers back in the same boat that the team was in during the 2024 campaign.
Pittsburgh entered the season with Calvin Austin as its No. 2 wideout, but Austin has just 139 yards through four games and is now expected to miss time with a shoulder injury.
Ideally, the Steelers acquire more wide receiver help at some point before the trade deadline passes.
Sports Illustrated's Matt Verderame has a suggestion for general manager Omar Khan. He has proposed a trade between the Steelers and Jacksonville Jaguars that would send veteran wideout Tim Patrick to Pittsburgh for a seventh-round pick.
"Patrick is in Jacksonville and behind Brian Thomas Jr., Parker Washington and rookie Travis Hunter, playing only 22% of the snaps (59% in 2024). Meanwhile, Pittsburgh needs a complement to DK Metcalf. Beyond him, the Steelers’ leading receiver is Calvin Austin III, with 10 catches for 139 yards," Verderame wrote.
Patrick posted two 700-yard seasons with the Denver Broncos in 2020 and 2021 before his career was derailed by injuries the next two seasons.
However, he posted a bounce-back campaign in 2024 with the Detroit Lions, when he finished with 33 catches for 394 yards and three touchdowns while serving as the Lions' No. 3 wideout behind Jameson Williams and Amon-Ra St. Brown.
As Verderame notes, Patrick, who was acquired by the Jags in a trade with the Lions right before the start of the season, has been buried on the depth chart and has just two receptions for 15 yards in four games.
Safe to say, Patrick is expendable at this point and the Jags would likely be happy to get anything for him, even a seventh-rounder.
We would much rather see the Steelers make a splashier move considering the team seems to be all in on this season, but acquiring Patrick would be better than nothing.
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