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The Steelers may address their need at receiver by trading for Sutton

The Denver Broncos and wide receiver Courtland Sutton are at odds over his contract situation. With a very minimal amount of guaranteed money remaining on his contract. He could find himself once again playing with Russell Wilson as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Backstory

Sutton was drafted in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft, the same year the Steelers would draft wide receiver James Washington eighteen picks later. Sutton is a slightly heavier version but similar build as current Steelers wide receiver George Pickens. Both are 6’3 but Sutton outweighs Pickens by about eighteen pounds.

However, Pickens is the more fleet of foot when compared to Sutton. Coming out of Georgia in the 2023 NFL Draft Pickens was clocked at an official 40-yard dash time of 4.47 seconds to Sutton’s official 40-yard time back in 2018 of 4.54 seconds. Sutton has probably lost some explosion he had coming out of the Draft due to not only his age but, also having previously torn his ACL in his right knee while separately tearing his MCL in the same knee.

The Steelers are hoping to avoid the turnover at the quarterback position that Sutton has endured throughout his NFL career having played with ten different starting quarterbacks over six seasons. Having that level of turnover at the games most important position, not only serves to hold the offense back but also the entire team and organization from reaching their goals.

What has he done in the NFL despite the challenges?

Outside of one season where he put up true number-one wide receiver numbers, he’s proven to be more of a Robin to someone’s Batman. Sutton has a very impressive career yards per-catch number of 14.3. He also posted his his highest career catch percentage last season of 65% playing in fifteen games with new Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson. That is a very attractive number and something that would be helpful for the Steelers offense, as well as Wilson.

Sutton is just ok after the catch having produced 952 yards in his career, he’s not the post-catch threat that Diontae Johnson was for the Steelers or Pickens showed that he could be last season. Nor is he a threat to consistently break tackles. He’s also prone to having a case of the dropsies similar to Johnson having been charged with 31 drops in his career.

Current situation and the likely cost of acquiring him

Sutton has two years remaining on his current contract, but there’s probably not a new deal coming for him in Denver given his age, and the team’s current situation. The strength of the receiver class doesn’t bode well for him getting a new contract either. He will turn 29 years old during the 2024 season, how much and how long is too much to commit to him? That’s a question the Steelers would have to ask themselves. They could do what they did in 2015 with then Steelers receiver Antonio Brown, and essentially give Sutton money from his 2025 contract year, and give him, a raise in 2024. They could rip up his deal and sign him to a new contract with a bit of a raise on his current deal.

The Denver Broncos have an estimated $17,251,447.00 in salary cap space available to them. They are not under any cap issues that would force their hand as far as needing to trade Sutton. The team recently traded receiver Jerry Jeudy to the Cleveland Browns, they seem to be in the initial steps of a full-blown rebuild. While they could also take any of the steps laid out for the Steelers, they’d probably be more interested in a day three selection in this draft.

According to www.overthecap.com a fair trade offer for Sutton would involve the Steelers sending the 2025 seventh-round pick they got from the Philadelphia Eagles as part of trading quarterback Kenny Pickett. The Steelers would then be receiving Sutton and Denver’s 2026 seventh-round selection. The Steelers would have to absorb an estimated $9,745,588.00 that Sutton is due in 2024 salary. The Steelers currently are under the NFL salary cap by $11,139,353.00. They could easily afford such a trade, they’d probably immediately restructure his contract to create some flexibility while making him happy as well. Though they’d be smart to not add any additional years and avoid an albatross situation. While still drafting a receiver with an eye toward that player supplanting Sutton in 2025.

Keeping track of who the Steelers have interest in ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft.

With free agency winding down, the NFL’s main focus in the upcoming weeks will be the 2024 NFL Draft beginning on April 25. Ahead of the big day are top 30 visits, where NFL teams are allowed to bring up to 30 players on individual visits to their facilities for a private meeting. In-house visits with local players do not count towards the total.

With only limited slots for visits, looking at a team’s list of top 30 visits is a great way to keep an eye on the prospects they are most interested in. However, teams can also use the visits to feign interest in players or simply to answer medical questions they have about certain prospects.

Regardless, pre-draft visits remain an essential part of the draft season each year. Follow along with this article to receive updates on every reported Steelers pre-draft visit. The latest entries will be at the top of the article.

Total top 30 visits reported: 30/30

33 total Steelers top-30 visits were reported, insinuating that the three visits that were unconfirmed (QB Michael Penix Jr., RB Dillon Johnson, and CB Shon Stephens), likely did not occur. However, the three players could’ve met with the Steelers at some point in the draft process through other means.

Michigan LB Junior Colson

International Pathway Program OT Travis Clayton

Penn State C Hunter Nourzad

Nourzad’s visit does not count against the Steelers’ top-30 total as he is a local player.

Duke OL Graham Barton

NC State LB Payton Wilson

South Dakota State IOL Mason McCormick

Georgia WR Ladd McConkey

Reported by The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly.

West Virginia C Zach Frazier

West Virginia CB Beanie Bishop

Neither WVU visit will count against the Steelers’ top-30 total due to their local nature. Frazier’s report had been reported back in March but deleted. Now, it’s been confirmed.

DeJean’s visit was previously reported.

Iowa CB Cooper DeJean

Oklahoma OT Tyler Guyton

Boyd’s visit was previously reported.

Oregon C Jackson Powers-Johnson

Notre Dame OT Blake Fisher

Mississippi State DT Jaden Crumedy

Mitchell’s visit was previously reported.

Washington OT Troy Fautanu

Texas WR Adonai Mitchell

Iowa DT Logan Lee

Lee has spent time at both defensive line and tight end during his time at Iowa.

Melton’s visit was previously reported.

Rutgers CB Max Melton

Clemson CB Nate Wiggins

Rice WR Luke McCaffrey

Oregon G/T Steven Jones

LSU DL Maason Smith

Penn State CB Daequan Hardy

Hardy will likely count as a local visit and no go towards the Steelers’ top 30 total. The Fiske, Phillips, and Corley visits had been previously reported.

USC WR Tahj Washington

Kentucky CB Andru Phillips

Pitt OT Matt Goncalves

Like M.J. Devonshire, Conclaves’ visit is unlikely to count against the Steelers’ top 30 draft slots due to its local nature.

Pitt CB M.J. Devonshire

Devonshire will not count towards the Steelers’ top 30 total as a local player.

Georgia OT Amarius Mims

Reported by Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Oregon State OT Taliese Fuaga

South Carolina WR Xavier Legette

Travis Glover’s visit was reported the day prior.

Mizzou DL Darius Robinson

Western Kentucky WR Malachi Corley

Florida WR Ricky Pearsall

Georgia State OT Travis Glover

Northern Iowa DT Khristian Boyd

Florida State DL Braden Fiske

Pick swaps hold tremendous value even if they rarely make headlines

The Steelers have more holes to fill on the roster than their supply of quality draft picks. They could sign an available free agent to lessen the needs but a trade for a player, much as the Texans did for WR Stefon Diggs, is another avenue to explore.

While the meat and potatoes of these trade possibilities will be discussed in a separate article, here we will focus on the fine print that rarely makes the headlines. Trades for players almost always involve some lower-round draft picks that, to the average fan, just feel like throw-ins. The headline may read something like “Player X was acquired for pick Y and a swap of Day 3 draft picks.” It seems to be a growing trend as GMs around the league are finding gems with these late-round picks more than we are used to seeing and they want those “lottery tickets” to give them a shot at striking it rich.

Let’s look at the recent trade of Diggs for what boiled down to a value of about pick No.88 in this year’s draft. As the Texans own pick No.86, it could have been done in a more straightforward fashion. Instead, the Texans traded a 2025 2nd to Buffalo in exchange for Diggs, a 2024 6th, and a 2025 5th. It’s those 6th-round and 5th-round picks we are focused on here. Why would something seemingly meaningless be added to the trade mix? The results of 2023’s draft can shed some light on the value of these late-rounders.

Late-round gems from 2023’s draft class

By the time the 5th round of the draft started, all but the most draft-centric fans had already found something better to occupy their minds. A trio of quality contributors at WR would hear their names called.

* Stats courtesy of PFR

• 5th round, Pick No.159 Dontayvion Wicks 39/581/4
• 6th round, Pick No. 191 Trey Palmer 39/385/3
• 6th round, Pick No. 210 Demario Douglas 49/561/0

Any receiver putting up stats like those in his rookie season has already outplayed his draft status. Their franchises have to be thrilled with the return on investment. Based on production, Wicks ended up WR2 for the playoff-bound Packers. Palmer was WR3 for the playoff-bound Buccaneers. Douglas would be WR1 for the retooling Patriots. Those are all fantastic finds from the last three rounds of the 2023 draft, but they pale in comparison to one other. Fifth round pick Puka Nacua. Among WRs, Nacua would rank No.9 in the NFL in receptions and No.4 in yards as a rookie.

Late-round payoff for the Steelers in 2023

Of course, not every late-round pick blooms into a productive player as a rookie, but that doesn’t mean they don’t add value. Before the draft last year, the Steelers swapped 7th-rounders with the Rams to acquire WR Allen Robinson. The Rams moved up 17 spots while the Steelers moved back. No fan would’ve thought twice about it if Omar Khan had simply traded pick No. 251 for Robinson.

Getting an experienced WR3 for one of the last picks in the draft would have filled a hole at minimal cost. Even though Robinson didn’t light up the stat sheet he played the second most snaps at WR, in part due to Diontae Johnson’s hamstring injury. But what about those picks that were swapped in the Robinson trade?

The Rams haven’t received any huge early dividends from defensive back Jason Taylor with pick No. 234, though he was a “win” as he did make the roster and logged 150 snaps, 111 on special teams. The Steelers used No. 251 on offensive lineman Spencer Anderson. Anderson would play only 28 snaps, 26 on special teams. But Anderson had hidden value. The Steelers wanted to move on from underperformers Kendrick Green and Kevin Dotson. Through training camp and preseason,

Anderson displayed enough ability to replenish depth and allow the Steelers to trade away both of those players instead of just one or the other. Perhaps Anderson will become a starter along the offensive line. Even if he doesn’t, he has already yielded a nice return on investment. The trades of Dotson and Green essentially netted the Steelers the Rams’ 2024 4th-round pick (No. 120). The Steelers traded away No. 120 along with Kenny Pickett to acquire an extra pick in the 3rd round (No. 98). In essence, pick No. 234 and three guys who played their way off the roster (Dotson, Green, and Pickett) were traded for Allen Robinson, Spencer Anderson, and 2024’s pick No.98. There’s a reason Omar is known as the “Khan Artist”. Wheeling and dealing unwanted pieces and a 7th into one year of a starting WR, the potential of a young versatile OL piece, and a 3rd-round pick is quite the feat. Without those “throw-in” late draft picks added to trades, it wouldn’t be possible.

The Steelers have been active on both sides of the ball in free agency, but a few notable vacancies remain on their roster ahead of the draft. That includes the offensive line, a unit which could see multiple rookie additions later this month.

Mark Kaboly of The Athletic notes Pittsburgh is interested in drafting a center and offensive tackle, which comes as no surprise given the team’s current setup along the O-line. The decision to release Mason Cole left the Steelers without an experienced option in the middle, and as such the team has frequently been linked to a center being selected in the first two rounds. The same holds true at the right tackle spot, particularly on Day 1.

“I can’t tell you the player, but I can tell you it’ll be an offensive lineman,” a Pittsburgh source informed ESPN’s Matt Miller regarding the team’s first-round pick (No. 20). A number of options will be available amongst blockers at all positions at that point, even with a number of the top tackles likely to come off the board before the Steelers are on the clock.

Graham Barton (whose stock is on the rise) has positional flexibility based on his usage at Duke, but he is expected to play at center in the NFL. He, along with the likes of Oregon’s Jackson Powers-Johnson and West Virginia’s Zach Frazier could be in play for Pittsburgh. The right tackle spot, meanwhile, currently belongs to 2022 first-rounder Broderick Jones. The Georgia product could move to his more natural spot on the blindside with the addition of a new RT prospect.

Miller names Tyler Guyton (Oklahoma) and Amarius Mims (Georgia) as options who could still be on the board when the Steelers are due to pick. Both players have drawn praise for their athletic upside, although limited playing time in the latter’s case in particular could be a cause for concern – something which was also the case for Jones last year. Mims’ injury history is also seen as a red flag.

The Steelers are viewed around the league as being content to wait until Day 2 to select a receiver, Miller adds. Pittsburgh has generated a reputation for finding valuable players at the WR spot beyond the first round, and continuing along that path could pave the way to a high-profile addition up front. It will be interesting to see if general manager Omar Khan follows through with the internal expectation an offensive lineman will be the team’s first addition.

Matthew Wright is set to begin another stint with the Steelers. The journeyman kicker signed with Pittsburgh on Wednesday, per a team announcement.

Wright originally joined the Steelers as a UDFA in 2019. It was one year later that he made his regular season debut, one which came after a brief spell in the XFL. The Central Florida product played in three games in 2020, making each of his kicks.

That led him to the Jaguars, the team with which he spent the 2021 campaign. Wright played 14 games with Jacksonville, but he found himself on the move once again in 2022. After beginning that season with Kansas City (and appearing in a pair of games), Wright was signed off the Chiefs’ practice squad to return to Pittsburgh. Filling in for an injured Chris Boswell, a the 28-year-old connected on 12 of 14 field goal attempts and went seven-for-seven on extra points.

This past season, Wright continued to bounce around the NFL, finding himself on the active roster and practice squads of the Chiefs, Panthers, 49ers, Falcons and Patriots. His lone regular season action came with Carolina. For his career (24 games), Wright has a field goal accuracy of 85.1%. He has made all but two of his 37 extra point attempts.

Pittsburgh still has Boswell on the books for the next three years, and the 33-year-old posted a field goal accuracy rate above 90% for the sixth time in his career last season. The reunion with Wright is therefore simply a depth addition which will give the Steelers another option at the position during training camp.