The Pittsburgh Steelers desperately need more wide receiver help, so one analyst has proposed a trade with the Tennessee Titans that would check that box for Pittsburgh.
Steelers wide receiver trade pitch adds 290-yard former All-Pro for Aaron Rodgers originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
As if we needed another example for why the Pittsburgh Steelers need to add a wide receiver at the trade deadline, we got one in Week 7.
In a 33-31 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, DK Metcalf was quiet with just 50 yards and no other receiver on the team had more than 17 (that was Roman Wilson!). It's true Calvin Austin was injured, but it's not like he's had elite production when on the field that would lead you to believe he would've picked up the slack.
At this point, the Steelers should be interested in anyone with a pulse to help Aaron Rodgers, but ideally general manager Omar Khan aims higher than that. After all, we thought Mike Williams might still have a pulse in 2024, but that turned out to not be the case.
In an article naming possible trade targets for Pittsburgh, USA TODAY's Jacob Camenker suggested Tennessee Titans wide receiver Calvin Ridley.
"Ridley is off to a slow start in 2025, but he showed he still has downfield receiving capabilities during a five-catch, 131-yard outing in Week 5 against the Arizona Cardinals," he wrote. "Moving him into a No. 2 role across from Metcalf could allow him to regain the form that allowed him to post back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars (2023) and Titans (2024).
A former All-Pro with the Atlanta Falcons, Ridley inked a four-year, $92 million deal with Tennessee in 2024. Ridley managed to top 1,000 yards in his first season in Nashville, and that was with some of the worst quarterback play in the NFL.
Ridley is on pace for less than that this season after tallying 290 yards through six games, but he once again has to deal with a rough quarterback situation with Cam Ward struggling in his rookie campaign.
Tennessee's offense has proven to be a dysfunctional mess, also, which is part of the reason why Brian Callahan was shown the door recently.
It certainly stands to reason that Ridley could be much better in Pittsburgh.
He'd be catching passes from a future Hall of Famer who still has plenty left in the tank, and Ridley, who is a threat at all areas of the field, including deep, doesn't have to be the No. 1 with Metcalf already in that role, which will take a ton of pressure off and open things up for him.
Ridley would also be more than a rental given the fact that he still has two more years left on his contract after this one. That could also be seen as a negative with Ridley set to turn 31 in December, but there are outs in each of the final two years of his robust contract, so the Steelers can get out of it if things don't work out.
While the Titans probably wouldn't mind unloading Ridley's contract, they might be hesitant to deal him because losing Ridley would leave Ward with basically nobody to throw to, which isn't ideal for his development.
That said, the Titans desperately need more picks to help their rebuild and Ridley would likely garner a mid-round selection.
Ridley definitely doesn't top our list of wide receivers for the Steelers to target, as we'd rather see them acquire Chris Olave or Jakobi Meyers.
But if those two aren't attainable, Ridley is probably the next best thing and would still be a great fix for what is arguably the Steelers' biggest need.
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