Tim Benz: Steelers must avoid familiar path at wide receiver

I’m 100% on board with the Steelers’ decision to trade George Pickens, even if they didn’t get the return I was hoping for from the Dallas Cowboys.

“We discussed (with his agent) where things have been with George. Where they are, and where things could go with George. And this trade makes sense for everyone,” general manager Omar Khan said on Friday.

“We just felt that a fresh start for both sides was the right thing.”

Agreed. I concur with everything Khan said there.

What I’m concerned about, though, is what they do from here at the receiver position. That’s because they are in a precariously similar situation to where they were after they traded Diontae Johnson a year ago.

In theory, the exchange they got for Johnson last year is better than what they got this year for Pickens, even though Pickens is a better player than Johnson. At least Donte Jackson was a starting cornerback for most of 2025. All the Steelers got for Pickens is a third-rounder next year.

And we all remember what happened in their quest to replace Johnson as the No. 2 to Pickens a season ago. Mike Williams went to the New York Jets in free agency instead of the Steelers. They swung and missed on Brandon Aiyuk. They couldn’t figure out a swap for Darius Slayton or Courtland Sutton. Christian Kirk broke his collarbone before they could acquire him from Jacksonville.

They eventually traded for Williams at the deadline mid-season, but he wasn’t all that good.

The bottom line is that as replaceable as Johnson appeared to be, the Steelers couldn’t figure out a way to do it.

Pickens is better than Johnson. By extension, he’ll be harder to replace. That said, there is a clearer path to doing so.

Last year’s problems replacing Johnson were largely due to the fact that — aside from initial pursuit of Williams in March — attempts to acquire any of those receivers mentioned above were coming via potential trades.

This year, the likes of Keenan Allen and Amari Cooper are available via free agency. Yet, it appears Khan is content to roll with what he has at the receiver position for now.

“We wouldn’t have done this (Pickens trade) if we didn’t feel good about the receiver situation — about our depth here. I know people make the comparison about last year, it’s not even close to being the same,” Khan insisted Friday.

I disagree. I think Pickens becomes DK Metcalf. Calvin Austin is still Calvin Austin. Robert Woods is Williams, and everyone hopes Roman Wilson evolves into what he was supposed to be as a rookie in 2024.

Emphasis on “hopes.”

If he doesn’t, who is the No. 2 for Metcalf? And how is that at all different than when we asked for eight months, who could Khan get to replace Johnson a year ago?

Unfortunately, Khan seems moderately interested in the wide receiver free agent market at best.

“There are always good players out there. If we wanted to add some people, we could. But we feel comfortable with (the current group of WRs),” Khan said.

I don’t. I’m assuming many of you feel the same way.

The Steelers do. Or at least they are claiming to feel that way.

Then again, Khan and Mike Tomlin said the same thing a year ago. Then they spent six months pursuing a trade for Aiyuk. So believe in what you want at your own peril.

That’ll also have to be the credo for any Steelers quarterback this season. We saw how that worked out for Justin Fields and Russell Wilson a year ago when their options were Pickens and…. not much else.

LISTEN: Tim Benz and Chris Adamski discuss the state of the Steelers in this week’s offseason podcast.