If the Pittsburgh Steelers don’t land Miami Dolphins tight finish Jonnu Smith, they’ll seemingly goal one other playmaker to spice up the offense. In accordance with FOX Sports activities’ Jordan Schultz, the Steelers are having commerce conversations with “a number of groups” in an effort to discover a complementary piece to pair with WR DK Metcalf.
“The #Steelers have had preliminary conversations with a number of groups about doubtlessly including one other playmaker on offense to enrich DK Metcalf, per a number of sources,” Schultz tweeted Thursday. “Pittsburgh is believed to be motivated to get a deal achieved sooner or later, although there’s nonetheless loads of time earlier than the season.
“The Steelers may have as much as 12 picks within the 2026 NFL Draft.”
Whereas not a receiver, Smith is an athletic tight finish with loads of familiarity with offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. The 2 spent years collectively in Tennessee and Arthur Smith traded for him in Atlanta, resulting in a profession 12 months. Jonnu Smith constructed upon that in 2024 with the Miami Dolphins, setting profession highs with 88 receptions for 884 yards. He additionally discovered the tip zone eight occasions.
If not Smith, it’s unclear what different playmaker the Steelers may goal. The Inexperienced Bay Packers supply a deep bench of large receivers, although experiences indicated the crew favors to carry onto its expertise. However names like Romeo Doubs may peak Pittsburgh’s curiosity. We’ve talked about the Indianapolis Colts’ Alec Pierce and Jacksonville Jaguars’ Parker Washington as different choices the crew may take into account, although they hardly attain Metcalf’s stage of playmaking or what WR George Pickens dropped at the crew.
Shortly after buying and selling Pickens, GM Omar Khan expressed confidence within the crew’s inner large receiver choices and brushed apart comparisons to final season. Calvin Austin III had his greatest season whereas Roman Wilson is wholesome after lacking his rookie 12 months attributable to accidents. Nonetheless, it was arduous to consider the crew would rely solely on inner replacements to fill Pickens’ sneakers and out of doors reporting confirms the Steelers’ realization that they need to add extra expertise to an offense that hasn’t completed prime 10 in scoring since 2018.
As Schultz notes, Pittsburgh has loads of future capital to spend. Projected compensatory choices may give Pittsburgh as much as 12 draft picks for the 2026 draft, together with 5 within the first three rounds. The Steelers don’t formally have these comp picks to commerce however may hand over different property, just like the third rounder they acquired within the Pickens deal, believing they’ll be replenished as soon as comp picks are introduced subsequent offseason.
