The most wild rumor yet this offseason for the Pittsburgh Steelers sees the team being linked to star wide receiver Justin Jefferson.
There has been a lot of recent talk centering around trades involving the Steelers.
They already made one of the offseason’s most notable trades when they sent Diontae Johnson to the Panthers.
That led to a couple of names being brought up as potential trade candidates to replace him.
One was Keenan Allen, who seemed like he could be traded to fix the Chargers’ cap situation. The other is Courtland Sutton, who has regularly been seen as a somebody the Broncos could trade as they rebuild.
Now the Steelers are being linked to arguably the best receiver in football.
According to Antonio Brown’s CTESPN Network, the Steelers are in talks with the Minnesota Vikings about a trade for Jefferson after trade talks broke down with the Bengals.
The source makes this rumor seem a bit dubious, but CTESPN actually posted about a one-year deal for Russell Wilson with the Steelers a couple of days before it was announced.
It still seems far-fetched, but it would be an enormous move for the Steelers if they somehow made a move for Jefferson happen.
A Dominant Force for the Vikings
Jefferson has been one of football’s best receivers since the second he set foot on an NFL field.
His 1400 receiving yards in 2020 broke the NFL’s record for receiving yards in a rookie season.
Since then he has been on he hunt for the league’s single-season receiving record.
The following year he made 108 catches for 1616 yards.
Then he made a case for being the NFL’s best receiver during his third year in the league. In 2022 Jefferson led the league in receptions and receiving yards with 128 yards for 1809 yards.
In 2023 he was limited to just 10 games because of an injury, but still finished with 68 catches for 1074 yards and set an NFL record for the most receiving yards through his first four years in the league.
Now he’s back to 100%, but there could be some trouble brewing in Minnesota.
The team’s current QB1 is Sam Darnold after Kirk Cousins left for Atlanta and the Vikings could face competition for a franchise QB in this year’s draft.
Adam Schefter also recently reported that Jefferson had turned down a contract extension from that would have paid him more than $30 million per year, which would have made him the NFL’s highest-paid receiver.
His contract will expire at the end of the 2024 season if he doesn’t reach an agreement on a new deal.
If his time in Minnesota is really approaching its end, he would be a franchise-changing acquisition for whatever team is lucky enough to land him.
Steelers Probably Not the Best Fit for Jefferson
Jefferson is the kind of player that can change the fortunes of any offense in the NFL, but with that there will be expectations for any team he plays for.
Jefferson has said that he wants to be the NFL’s first receiver to hit 2000 yards in a season.
To do that, he’s going to need to get the ball a lot.
In his 1800-yard season, he got 184 targets. That could mean it will take somewhere in the range of 200 targets fro him to hit 2K.
The Steelers’ offense probably wouldn’t afford him that opportunity.
They now have a QB that could make it happen, but not an offensive coordinator.
Arthur Smith offenses haven’t exactly been great for wide receivers.
Even AJ Brown topped out at 1075 yards in Smith’s offense and he didn’t have to compete with a receiver of George Pickens’ caliber while playing in Tennessee.
The Steelers are going to run the ball frequently with Smith as their OC. Even adding Jefferson isn’t going to change that enough for him to get the kind of usage he expects.
Adding Jefferson would be a huge win for any team in the league, but there are much better fits for him than the Steelers around the NFL.
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