Yes, I know – we’re back to talking about Brandon Aiyuk.
If you’re wondering why, Aiyuk posted a video of him FaceTiming Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels saying “They don’t want me back” on Tik Tok.
This obviously reignited the flame of Aiyuk trade rumors, with Steelers fans and their metaphorical eye emojis lighting up at the thought of the former first-round pick becoming a Steeler before training camp.
You all know where I stand on the issue – I would trade for Aiyuk in a heartbeat. He’s fantastic at every level (just go watch him torch the Steelers in Week 1 last season for a prime example). Per Tej Seth, he had the seventh most receiving yards in the NFL despite being 52nd in routes run, and he had the third-highest yards per route run average in the league.
So, while I would trade for Aiyuk, there has to be more of a grand plan in mind in doing so – here’s mine
Step 1: Trade for Aiyuk
As we’ve established, Aiyuk is awesome in every manner on the football field. Should Pittsburgh have to send first and third-round picks to do it, similar to what the Eagles gave up for A.J. Brown, then so be it. And before you say “You can’t give up that much,” stop overvaluing draft capital. Overvaluing draft picks are the closet thing we have in real life to the Family Guy mystery box gag. “Brandon Aiyuk is Brandon Aiyuk but a draft pick could be anything – it could even be Brandon Aiyuk!”
Stop.
You are what you invest in. If you can get great players, you get great players. Plus look at the other receivers who were acquired via trade over the last handful of seasons:
- Stefon Diggs,
- A.J. Brown,
- Tyreek Hill,
- D.J. Moore,
All made their offenses tremendously better, two resulted in conference championship appearances, and one resulted in a Super Bowl appearance.
Don’t get attached to draft capital. The Steelers should take a page out of the playbook of the Rams, and the aforementioned teams, and go and get a great player rather than bank on a draft pick panning out in 2-4 years when it no longer matters for this group anyway.
Step 2: Figure out what you have at QB
Adding Aiyuk to go along with George Pickens, Roman Wilson, Pat Freiermuth, Najee Harris, Jaylen Warren, and an improved offensive line along with a great defense will leave zero room for excuses. Both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields would have all the tools to show what they are or aren’t capable of.
It’s similar to what the Tennessee Titans are doing right now with Will Levis. They’ve given him Calvin Ridley and Tyler Boyd, as well as made moves on defense to give him all the tools to find out right away how good he is. The Steelers should do the same. Get as many great players as possible to evaluate your situation, and go from there. And if you don’t think Wilson and/or Fields are the future…
Step 3: Sign Dak Prescott in 2025
The Steelers are projected to have over $89 million in cap space in 2025, according to Spotrac. That is more than enough money to acquire Aiyuk and sign Prescott.
Now, some of you will dump on Prescott – he’s better than anything the Steelers have had in since pre-elbow injury Ben Roethlisberger, and he just led the NFL in touchdown passes.
And sure, you can point to the lack of playoff success that Prescott has had, and that’s fair. But you know who never won a playoff game until he was traded? Matthew Stafford. And in his first season with the Los Angeles Rams, they won the Super Bowl.
Prescott is a top 12 quarterback in the NFL, and you can tell me he is a top 10 guy and I wouldn’t argue. A deal that pays him somewhere between $55-60 million will be what it takes to get it done and guess what? Oh well. That’s what good quarterbacks cost. If you want to win, you pay it. And there are plenty of things you can do to take the hit off of the salary cap, as most teams do (signing bonuses, roster bonuses etc.)
For example, Jared Goff will make the most total cash amongst quarterbacks in 2024 with just over $80.6 million. However, his cap hit in 2024 is only $27.2 million, which is 10th in the NFL amongst quarterbacks. And as it stands, his cap hit in 2025 is 16th amongst quarterbacks at $32.6 million.
The Steelers can do a deal very similar to Goff’s in Detroit for Prescott, and give themselves a nice 2-4 year window to try and win with this current group.
Again, this is only if you don’t feel comfortable with the quarterbacks you have being able to lead you to a championship. Because the defensive stars aren’t getting younger. T.J. Watt is going to be 30 in October. Minkah Fitzpatrick will be 28 in November, and is coming off an injury-riddled season. Don’t turn to the draft and likely waste the final prime years of those two hoping you land your own C.J. Stroud. Go and get a veteran that you know can play.