The Pittsburgh Steelers turned in a disappointing finish to their 2023 season, and they will look to turn the page in 2025 with a bounce-back year. Those efforts begin with the start of the new year on March 12, when free agency officially begins.
The Steelers have several holes that they need to address, but their most pressing issue is the wide receiver position. Luckily for the Steelers, the perfect player is available and should be able to be acquired at a reasonable price point.
Why wide receiver is the Steelers’ biggest need
The Steelers desperately need to address the wide receiver room and add another high-level pass catcher. George Pickens is an elite physical talent, but he is also a young player with a mercurial attitude. Part of this comes from age and frustration.
Pickens is used to being far and away the best receiver on the field, and he’s used to being able to dominate every game and directly improve his team’s chances of winning. Pickens can certainly be an asset for the Steelers, but he can’t win a game on his own the way he could in college. It’s also easy at the NFL level for defenses to scheme and take away a single player, and this has led to frustration at times for the former Georgia star.
The Steelers must sign DeAndre Hopkins
DeAndre Hopkins would bring a veteran presence that would benefit the Steelers not only on the field but also in the locker room. Hopkins could help teach Pickens the ins and outs of NFL life and help him adjust to his role in the NFL.
This would be invaluable to a locker room and coaching staff that has struggled to contain Pickens’ emotional outbursts early in the wideout’s career.
Hopkins struggled a bit during this past season by his own lofty standards, and the veteran receiver may have lost a step or two. That doesn’t mean he isn’t capable of providing something at this point in his career, though. Hopkins is still a credible threat to defenses because of his size, strength, athleticism, and veteran savvy.
The Steelers struggled a lot in the red zone in 2024 and if they want to take the next step and regain their status as Super Bowl contenders, they’ll definitely need to turn more of their field goals into touchdowns. Hopkins can help with this, and he’ll be an especially valuable asset given that the Steelers will likely have a young quarterback who will need all the help that he can get.
The Steelers should be able to sign Hopkins to a reasonable deal that won’t force them to break the bank this winter. Because of Hopkins’ perceived decline, he’s unlikely to get more than a three-year deal and it would be surprising if he commanded more than $10 million per year at this stage of his career. The Steelers should certainly be in on Hopkins at this price point, and there’s a good chance that they can acquire his services.
Why not JK Dobbins?
JK Dobbins is another intriguing name that the Steelers will undoubtedly be linked to this spring, but Hopkins should be their priority target. Dobbins is another player who should be available at a reasonable price point, and he would certainly help to fill the hole that the likely departure of Najee Harris will create. With that being said, though, the Steelers have other ways of filling this gap adequately.
First, it would be relevant to point out that they might not even need to address the running back position. Jaylen Warren hasn’t received a heavy workload to this point in his career and he hasn’t proven himself as a workhorse, but he also hasn’t done anything to convince the Steelers’ front office that he wouldn’t be capable of managing a heavier load.
There’s absolutely a world in which Warren emerges as the team’s dominant running back. If that isn’t the case, though, Omar Khan and the Steelers’ front office will have plenty of opportunities to address through the draft.
Without a doubt, one name that the Steelers will be heavily linked to throughout the pre-draft process is Ashton Jeanty. However, Jeanty will likely be drafted late in the first round or early in the second. It’s possible that the Steelers use their first-round selection to add Jeanty, but it would be completely understandable if they want to use this premium draft capital on a more critical position.
Even if the Steelers pass on Jeanty or if he’s gone by the time they are on the clock, there are plenty of other talented running backs that the team could choose from in the second or third round. At the top of the list are two talented running backs from Ohio State, Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson.
It’s likely that the team addresses the running back in April during the draft, which pushes the running back dilemma farther down priorities in free agency. This is why the Steelers would be smart to prioritize signing Hopkins before they worry about trying to acquire Dobbins’ services.
There are other receivers that the Steelers could add both in free agency and in the draft, but Hopkins represents the best combination of proven ability, cost efficiency, and veteran presence. He’ll certainly help the team convert more of their field goals into touchdowns, take some pressure off of Pickens and he’ll also serve as a crucial mentor for the youngster.
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