While the Pittsburgh Steelers mull over the idea of trading for another wide receiver, they might want to start looking in the mirror when it comes to the last wideout they traded for.
With Aaron Rodgers coming to town, the Steelers front office gambled on effectively swapping DK Metcalf for George Pickens. They gave Metcalf a contract extension that they weren’t ready to trust Pickens with, signing him to a four-year, $132 million contract that made him the franchise's highest-paid offensive player for the next few years.
In many ways, he’s fitting in as the team’s top pass-catcher. He leads the team in targets, catches, yards, and touchdowns. But that doesn’t paint a full picture of Metcalf’s short time in Pittsburgh properly, because in truth, he hasn’t come close to living up to his extension.
DK Metcalf’s numbers aren’t matching the paycheck Pittsburgh Steelers handed him
Metcalf is currently just behind pace to match his statistics from last year, where he finished with 108 targets, 66 receptions, 992 yards, and five scores. Obviously, he’s already set to surpass his touchdown totals, having tied the five from last year already. But his waning production in other areas is a growing concern for the Steelers' offense.
His performance against the Indianapolis Colts was another example of him vanishing from the game. He caught two passes on four targets for six yards. He officially dropped his fourth pass of the season on the Steelers’ first touchdown drive, an unforced error, even if there were a couple of Colts defenders closing in on him.
Drops were expected with Metcalf. He’s never had the most reliable hands in the league. He came into this season riding a 36.6% contested catch rate in 2024.
Unnecessary penalties were also expected. Last week, the Steelers were preparing for a 3rd and 2, but Metcalf decided to poke a Packers defender in the eye and drew a personal foul call. Pittsburgh was down by 10 when that happened in the fourth quarter. They were down by 13 the next time they touched the ball.
READ MORE: No-brainer Jakobi Meyers-Steelers trade package is too good for Raiders to refuse
It’s not lost on me or anyone else who is critical of Metcalf that his lackluster production isn’t all his fault. The Steelers have been utilizing Calvin Austin and Roman Wilson more in recent weeks, but the team still doesn’t have a reliable or threatening presence opposite Metcalf.
That said, even with a bit more help from Austin and Wilson in recent weeks, it’s not like Metcalf is exactly seeing new opportunities open up in the offense as a result, and his box score against Indianapolis is plenty proof of that.
Pittsburgh does need another strong wideout to complement him, but keep in mind that Metcalf is the fourth-highest-paid receiver in the NFL on total contract value. He’s one of just two wide receivers who are 28 years old with nine-figure contracts, and he’s making $22 million more than the other player, D.J. Moore.
While nearly all of the other nine-figure wideouts have suitable running mates to take some pressure off, would any of them have the lowly production Metcalf has given in his first eight games for the Steelers if they lost their running mate for an extended period of time? Maybe, but don’t count me among Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase, CeeDee Lamb, and Amon-Ra St. Brown’s doubters in that regard, especially when most of them have proven to produce elite numbers without their running mates in the past.
Metcalf isn’t a bad player nor a bad investment on the team. It’s jarring that Pickens is excelling in Dallas, yes, but Metcalf has been less problematic, even with his marginal production compared to what Pickens would be on this team right now. Still, Pittsburgh doesn’t want to be the team overpaying its top wideout to put up half the production of the other receivers who make his level of money.