look much better at wide receiver<\/a> now behind DK Metcalf. Yet, Walder panned the Pittman move.<\/p>\n\u201cThe Steelers did add to Rodgers\u2019 receiving group, trading for Pittman and drafting Germie Bernard in the second round. The Pittman trade was a mistake, though,\u201d Walder writes. \u201cHe has $24 million due in 2026, which is more than I think he would receive on the open market. Why pay Pittman $24 million when Wan\u2019Dale Robinson made $17.5 million per year as a free agent?<\/p>\n
\u201cIn essence, the Steelers traded a late-round pick swap for a negative value contract.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why pay Pittman over someone like Wan\u2019Dale Robinson? Because Pittman is a better receiver and fits the Steelers\u2019 style and McCarthy\u2019s offense much better than a guy like Robinson does.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not hard to see.<\/p>\n
The Steelers signing Pittman to a contract extension was a bit of a surprise and feels like a bit of a risk, especially without him playing a snap in Pittsburgh. But there\u2019s a confidence there that he\u2019s a great fit in the Steel City, on and off the field.<\/p>\n
Along with the upgrades at receiver, the Steelers added to a high-priced defense, locking in cornerback Jamel Dean among a number of moves to shore up that side of the football. With a new defensive coordinator in Patrick Graham calling the shots, the expectation is Pittsburgh\u2019s defense takes a step forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf things break just right, the Steelers\u2019 defense could keep them relevant in 2026. But it\u2019s hard to see the offense having enough firepower for the team to make a serious run,\u201d Walder writes.<\/p>\n
The Steelers\u2019 defense should keep them competitive and in games throughout the regular season. The unit might even steal games, too. But the offense should be much better than last season, due to McCarthy\u2019s presence as the play caller, as well as the upgrades at receiver.<\/p>\n
Will it be enough to get over the hump in the playoffs? We shall see. The Steelers appear better positioned to do so this time around, though.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was one of the busiest \u2014 and most transformative \u2014 offseasons the Pittsburgh Steelers have had in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":933013,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[1586,12,7,11808,57,13660,691],"class_list":["post-933012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-aaron-rodgers","tag-espn","tag-football","tag-michael-pittman-jr","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-seth-walder","tag-trending"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116840072674892424","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/933012","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=933012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/933012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/933013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=933012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=933012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=933012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}