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Come through and hang awhile.

Welcome back to BTSC’s Friday night open thread:

As Ryland pointed out last week, this stretch of the NFL calendar is a bit of a slog. With no games until August, and no meaningful football until a month after that, it leaves room for what I call the “NFL Silly Season.”

This is the time of year when teams are “in talks” about potential trades, players and front office posture in front of the media during contract negotiations, and nowadats we also get soft launches for August’s “Player X is in the best shape of his life,” narratives by teasing workout plans the players have begun.

Does any of it mean anything? Probably not. Do a few of these stories still get your attention? Chances are you’ll find yourself chatting about at least one with a coworker or loved one at some point.

So with that in mind:

1. Which type of “Silly Season” narrative is the worst? Is it trade talk? Fitness reports? Contract disputes? Something else? Share your thoughts.

2. Speaking of, that Jonnu Smith report feels like it came out of nowhere huh? Then the Schultz report that the Steelers are looking for “offensive playmakers” came out to really cover all the bases. What would you think of a Smith trade? And if you could trade for any player in the NFL, who would it be?

3. It was announced that NFL players will be allowed to participate in the 2028 Olympics for flag football. Give us 3 Steelers who you would want to see make the 2028 team and why.

4. Let’s have another fun one. Let’s say you were making a movie about the upcoming 2025 Steelers. With Hollywood/prestige tv actors and everything. Who are you casting for key members of this team?

5. Song of the Week: “Die When I’m High (Halfway To Heaven) – Micah & Willie Nelson

I saw Willie Nelson in concert last weekend and he and his song played this song, so I’m passing it on to you.

The Steelers have released a defensive player

The Pittsburgh Steelers have made a roster move, but it’s not the one many have been waiting for as it pertains to Aaron Rodgers. Instead of a signing, Pittsburgh has let a player go.

Pittsburgh released defensive lineman Blake Mangelson. Mangelson was one of the undrafted free agents the Steelers signed after the NFL Draft.

Mangelson spent his college years at BYU, racking up 37 tackles, six tackles for loss, and two sacks in 2024. In his college career, he had 82 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, and 2.5 sacks.

The Steelers added several new pieces to their defensive line this offseason. They drafted Derrick Harmon, Jack Saywer, and Yahya Black were added via the NFL Draft, while Esezi Otomewo and Daniel Ekuale were signed in free agency. Pittsburgh has a ton of depth at the position, so multiple players being let go was expected to happen at some point this offseason.

The Steelers haven’t won anything in eight years – they aren’t above anybody.

The history of the Pittsburgh Steelers will forever be told in a beautiful hardback book composed of the finest leather. The tales of the 1970s read like nostalgic novellas. The teams of the 1990s were an underdog that consistently got to the brink, but never pulled the sword out of the stone. The 2000s were about triumph and becoming one of the NFL’s most feared teams once again.

The last decade of the Steelers’ story, though, reads more like an R.L. Stine Goosebumps book. Scary, but so bad that it’s silly and not even real horror. Which brings me to the point of this column – ENOUGH of this whole notion that the Steelers are above Aaron Rodgers, and that anyone would be lucky to start for the Steelers.

For almost a decade, the Steelers have been the dictionary definition of mediocre and have won nothing. The Jacksonville Jaguars have won a playoff game more recently than the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Cleveland Browns have won a playoff game more recently than the Pittsburgh Steelers, and they did so in Pittsburgh with a COVID-riddled team and coaching staff. The Washington Redskins became the Washington Football Team, then the Washington Commanders and made it to the NFC Championship Game in the span since the Steelers’ last playoff win. Their head coach, Dan Quinn, lost the Super Bowl, was fired by the Atlanta Falcons, spent three years as the defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys, and then was hired by the Commanders before leading them to the NFC Championship Game – all of that took place since the Steelers’ last playoff win.

Only seven teams have a longer current playoff-win drought than Pittsburgh:

• Miami Dolphins: 24 years
• Las Vegas Raiders: 22 years
• Chicago Bears: 14 years
• New York Jets: 14 years
• Arizona Cardinals: 9 years
• Carolina Panthers: 9 years
• Denver Broncos: 9 years

The Steelers are above nothing right now and have won nothing in almost a decade to earn any sort of praise that their biggest national defenders give them.

The fact of the matter is that Rodgers will be the best quarterback the Steelers have had since Ben Roethlisberger retired. If they want to end this playoff drought, they are in no position to turn their nose up and act holier than thou – they put themselves in this position. And while I’m optimistic about whatever quarterback they select in the 2026 NFL Draft, it’s hard to put faith in the head coach and team owner to help turn that guy into a star when the results they’ve yielded for almost 10 years have been nonexistent.

The lovely folks reading this have the same number of playoff wins as the Steelers since 2017. All the while, since 2022, they rank 20th in EPA per play and have finished 26th, 28th, and 20th in points per game in the last three seasons, respectively. They are a team that can’t get the offense right and seems hellbent on trying to win games like it’s still 2008. They turn up their nose at any thoughts of evolving and becoming more modern, opting instead to have the NFL’s highest-paid defense while the offense is built from scraps. It’s a formula that constantly loses, and one that Mike Tomlin refuses to stray from.

So, despite being an iconic franchise, there should be no discussions based on the argument of “The Steelers are better than waiting for Aaron Rodgers.” Because right now, that is unequivocally false.

The Steelers continue to look for another wide receiver via trade

The Pittsburgh Steelers are continuing to shop around for another wide receiver to add to their depth chart. Pittsburgh is in a similar spot that it was in last year, as DK Metcalf is their lone star, and the only starting-capable boundary receiver after the Steelers traded George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys.

Fox Sports NFL insider Jordan Schultz reported that the Steelers had asked multiple teams about potential trades, and ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Pittsburgh and the Miami Dolphins had discussions about a potential trade for tight end Jonnu Smith. Now, another name has entered the fray.

Zach Smith of Steelers Now reports that the Steelers have inquired about the availability of Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Trey Palmer.

Palmer had a solid rookie season in 2023, catching 39 passes for 385 yards and three touchdowns. Last season, he caught just 12 passes for 172 yards and one touchdown.

Palmer really impressed me at the Senior Bowl in 2023 coming out of Nebraska, and his speed is evident. He ran a 4.33 40-yard dash, and that speed is something the Steelers could use at the position. He is currently buried on the Buccaneers depth chart behind Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Jalen McMillan, and now Emeka Egbuka. The Steelers bringing him in in exchange for a late Day Three pick would be worth doing, especially for the Buccaneers, who aren’t really using Palmer anyway.

Think you can figure out which Steelers player we’re talking about? You’ll get five clues to figure him out in our new guessing game!

Hey Steelers fans! We’re back for another day of the Behind the Steel Curtain in-5 daily trivia game. Game instructions are at the bottom if you’re new to the game! Feel free to share your results in the comments and feedback in this Google Form.

Today’s Behind the Steel Curtain in-5 game

If you can’t see the game due to Apple News or another service, click this game article.

Previous games

Thursday, May 29, 2025
Wednesday, May 28, 2025
Tuesday, May 27, 2025

Play more SB Nation in-5 trivia games

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Behind the Steel Curtain in-5 instructions

The goal of the game is to guess the correct Steelers player with the help of up to five clues. We’ll mix in BOTH ACTIVE AND RETIRED PLAYERS. It won’t be easy to figure it out in one or two guesses, but some of you might be able to nail it.

After you correctly guess the player, you can click “Share Results” to share how you did down in the comments and on social media. We won’t go into other details about the game as we’d like your feedback on it. How it plays, what you think of it, the difficulty level, and anything else you can think of that will help us improve this game. You can provide feedback in the comments of this article, or you can fill out this Google Form.

Enjoy!