The Pittsburgh Steelers did not obtain the services of Brandon Aiyuk. They did not obtain the services of anyone else either. And there’s the problem.
All due respect to Van Jefferson and company but this team does not have a number two wide receiver right now. And “right now” is pretty damn close to the season beginning. Save me your “it doesn’t matter if the offensive line isn’t better” takes because that’s low-hanging fruit right now. I don’t care how bad your O-Line is, you still need people to catch the ball. We can debate this part another time because there’s more important stuff to discuss here.
Long-time Steelers’ beat writer Gerry Dulac posted this after Brandon Aiyuk officially re-signed with San Francisco for four years and $120 million.
Steelers not surprised 49ers re-signed Brandon Aiyuk. It’s what they expected all along.
— Gerry Dulac (@gerrydulac) August 29, 2024
I’m sorry, what?
They expected this all along? In the words of Ricky Ricardo, “The Steelers have some explaining to do.” If Omar Khan and the front office expected Aiyuk to just play this out, avoid having to go through the trials of the preseason and re-sign with the Niners then what in the Hell were they thinking?
Did Khan believe that another high-profile wide receiver would just pop out of thin air and be available? I have to believe that Khan made efforts to find other guys and the asking price for them just didn’t fit with what he was willing to give. That’s life in this business and sometimes you just don’t win and Khan lost here. There’s no other way to spin it.
When he made the decision to part ways with Diontae Johnson, few among us would have dreamed that this is where we would be. That makes it easier to say that trading Johnson was a huge mistake. Johnson’s talent was never the question. Attitude and effort clearly were. I still think moving on from him was the right move. But I also admit it looks downright bad since Khan hasn’t replaced him.
Ultimately, this will go in the ledger as a loss. Khan has had plenty of wins in his short tenure as the General Manager and even the best con artists come up empty at times. This however was one of those moments where the plan didn’t come together and there was no ‘Plan B.’
