{"id":130897,"date":"2025-06-15T03:34:15","date_gmt":"2025-06-15T03:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/130897\/"},"modified":"2025-06-15T03:34:15","modified_gmt":"2025-06-15T03:34:15","slug":"steelers-actively-making-calls-on-wide-receivers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/130897\/","title":{"rendered":"Steelers “Actively Making Calls” On Wide Receivers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pittsburgh Steelers do not have the deepest group of wide receivers, and one report suggests they could try to add another big-name player in the coming weeks. A 41-year-old version of Aaron Rodgers<\/a> is good enough to guide a Mike Tomlin team to the playoffs, but they\u2019ll need more firepower to offset Rodgers\u2019 natural decline in physical ability. The team acquired D.K. Metcalf earlier in the offseason, but he\u2019s their only proven option following the George Pickens trade.<\/p>\n

With the quarterback position officially addressed, Mark Kaboly of the\u00a0Pat McAfee Show<\/a> reports the Pittsburgh Steelers are \u201cactively making calls\u201d to teams that may be looking to trade wide receivers. It\u2019s easy to see why, as the underwhelming trio of Robert Woods, Calvin Austin<\/a>, and Scotty Miller are currently battling for the WR2 job opposite Metcalf. Even with tight end Pat Freiermuth helping out in the passing game, this aerial attack must find more life.<\/p>\n

While Kaboly\u2019s report does not give specifics on which players might be dealt, we can make a few educated guesses.<\/p>\n

\"SteelersMar 31, 2025; Palm Beach, FL, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin answers questions from the media during the NFL Annual League Meeting at The Breakers. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
\nReport: Steelers \u201cActively Making Calls\u201d For Available Wide Receivers
\nChris Olave, New Orleans Saints<\/p>\n

Chris Olave says he\u2019s not looking for a trade<\/a>, and the New Orleans Saints are not actively shopping the wide receiver. However, where there\u2019s smoke, there\u2019s fire, and the rebuilding Saints could easily trade their former first-round pick for the right offer. Olave is one of the game\u2019s better young playmakers when healthy, but has struggled to stay on the field over the past few seasons. Concussions are one of the most serious injuries a player can endure, and he might make more sense for a team with a short-term window like the Steelers, rather than a rebuilding Saints club.<\/p>\n

Kendrick Bourne, New England Patriots<\/p>\n

Kendrick Bourne may not be a superstar, but he could make a positive impact on the Steelers wide receivers. The New England Patriots don\u2019t have a (healthy) player as good as D.K. Metcalf, but they have a small army of adequate role players in Demario Douglas, Kayshon Boutte, and third-round pick Kyle Williams<\/a>. This could make Bourne the odd man out, and he could help a team like Pittsburgh finally get over the hump and win their first playoff game since the 2016 season.<\/p>\n

Adam Thielen, Carolina Panthers<\/p>\n

Much like the Patriots, the Carolina Panthers have a series of talented yet unproven young playmakers in first-round pick Tetairoa McMillan<\/a>, Xavier Legette, Jalen Coker, and tight end Ja\u2019Tavion Sanders. There could be too many\u00a0 mouths to feed if these players develop as anticipated, which could make Adam Thielen somewhat expendable. The aging Thielen is likely in the last season of his career and would probably prefer to play on a team with realistic odds of a deep playoff run.<\/p>\n

Main Photo: Philip J. Pavely \u2013 Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pittsburgh Steelers do not have the deepest group of wide receivers, and one report suggests they could…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":130898,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2055],"tags":[4128,6000,7,7352,726,6,5405,520,57,2374,2360,6211,426],"class_list":{"0":"post-130897","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-adam-thielen","9":"tag-chris-olave","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-kendrick-bourne","12":"tag-new-england-patriots-news","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-panthers-featured","15":"tag-pittsburgh","16":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","17":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers-news","18":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","19":"tag-saints-featured","20":"tag-steelers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114685284889506942","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130897\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}