NFL cut-down day is a whirlwind of transactions that can be hard to follow along with. Hundreds of players will have their chances at cracking an NFL roster ended, while others will stick elsewhere after rosters are shuffled around the league. The Pittsburgh Steelers are in the midst of trimming their roster down to the required 53 players, but they could still add players before finalizing things.
One player who has ties to new starting quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, just hit the market, and he may be a solid fit.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling had the best years of his career in Green Bay with Rodgers, and he is available after being cut by the Seattle Seahawks. It's a surprising move given the lack of speed in their receiving room, but they decided to go with younger options. While he isn't the same player he was early in his career, Valdes-Scantling can still be a quality role player as a true deep threat.
Pittsburgh Steelers should kick the tires on former Aaron Rodgers' target Marquez Valdes-Scantling
While he has never been a reliable volume receiver, Valdes-Scantling offers something that only DK Metcalf offers the Steelers currently: Size and Speed. The former fifth-round pick has averaged 17.4 yards per reception over his career, the highest active qualified total in the league.
His hands are notoriously spotty, and he isn't a ball winner like you would expect him to be, but he would be a great backup for Metcalf as a field stretcher and play-action shot play guy. Only Brandon Johnson (who may not be healthy/make the final roster) is even close to the size of Metcalf or
Valdes-Scantling, and he doesn't offer the speed element.
If Metcalf were to miss time for Pittsburgh, the offense would have to change entirely to accommodate the smaller, shiftier receivers behind him on the depth chart. Roman Wilson has been impressive this summer, and Calvin Austin III is a useful player when healthy, but neither can be a consistent threat as an outside receiver.
If nothing else, Valdes-Scantling would be a more experienced and dynamic backup than many of the other depth receivers. His connection with Rodgers helps, unless he doesn't want to deal with the drop issues, of course.