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At the NFL Owners Meetings in Phoenix, Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard opened up on why he traded wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. to the Pittsburgh Steelers. It wasn’t an easy decision for Ballard.
“I get close with our players… sitting in the background and making decisions without having a relationship, I can’t do that. I just can’t, it’s not who I am [or] how I grew up in this profession,” Ballard said to Kay Adams of Up & Adams. “Sometimes you’ve got people you care about and you have great respect for [but] you’ve got to make decisions that absolutely freaking suck. That’s one of them.”
Ballard was honest and up front with Pittman throughout the trade process.
“My relationship with [Pittman] I would tell you is about as honest a GM-player relationship as you can have back and forth,” Ballard said. “Like we had some interesting talks through the years. So it was hard but he understood, he was a pro about it. He didn’t like it, but he understood.”
In his introductory press conference with the Steelers, Pittman said he was very excited to learn that Pittsburgh was a possibility in trade talks, especially after talking to Mike McCarthy about the way he’d fit into the offense.
“I was really making a push to try to get here,” Pittman said.
Pittman believe he fits the mentality the Steelers want. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to contribute to the team.
“It got me fired up. I feel like Pittsburgh is my style of football. That tough, smashmouth, gritty, I think I just fit in perfectly here,” he said.
The Steelers certainly got Pittman at a steal, executing a late-round pick swap with the Colts. Now they can only hope he lives up to expectations.
Pittman, 28, is coming off a career-high seven-touchdown season to go along with 80 catches for 784 yards. Since being selected in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft, he has recorded 485 catches for 5,254 yards and 25 touchdowns.
Steelers general manager Omar Khan revealed why Pittman was their guy.
“We did our due diligence on him, knowing him since he came out of college,” Khan said at the NFL Owners Meetings in an interview with Max Starks. “The opportunity was there, had been in communication with the Colts, their front office, and it sort of came together pretty quickly. Made sense for them. Made sense for us, and we’re excited to have him.”
Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy raved about Pittman during his appearance on The Pat McAfee Show at the NFL Owners Meetings on Monday. He thinks Pittman is a perfect fit in his offense.
“He’s perfect, he’s the way I love to play. Bigger target, can play all three spots, you know, he can play the X, Z, and the F. You know, move him around,” McCarthy explained. “That’s just the way we like to play football. We like to play concept football and keep moving our guys around to try to create matchups.”
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