The Pittsburgh Steelers backed themselves into a corner at the wide receiver position last year when they traded Diontae Johnson to the Carolina Panthers. It was the correct choice given how Johnson’s 2024 season went, but they left themselves without a viable WR2 to complement George Pickens. The solution was meant to be a blockbuster trade for Brandon Aiyuk, but it fell just short of coming to fruition, and by the time it fell through there were no more options to meaningfully improve the position.
The Pat McAfee Show’s Mark Kaboly thinks the Steelers learned from that mistake.