Pittsburgh Steelers fans hoping for instant change were probably disappointed in Mike Tomlin’s Tuesday press conference. Still, he did mention that the team will be looking to buy at the NFL trade deadline, quickly approaching on November 4.
In the meantime, the Steelers have signed Marquez Valdes-Scantling as a bit of insurance at wide receiver. Still, every indication points to the Steelers making a push to trade for an established threat to pair with DK Metcalf on the outside.
One of the most likely names fans expect to see on the transaction wire in the coming week is Las Vegas Raiders wideout Jakobi Meyers.
Bleacher Report’s proposal gives Pittsburgh Steelers a conditional offer that rewards results
Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay recently proposed four probable trade packages for Meyers, including one that sends him to Pittsburgh. He suggests that Pittsburgh send a conditional fifth-round pick to Las Vegas for Meyers, in which Las Vegas would get a better pick depending on how far the Steelers go in the postseason.
“To make this interesting, the Raiders could ask for the return to be bumped a round for each round of the playoffs Pittsburgh makes it to—starting with a fifth-rounder for missing out entirely, moving to a fourth for an appearance in the Wild Card or divisional round, a third for the AFC Championship Game and a second for the Super Bowl,” Key wrote.
Steelers fans want the team to be aggressive at the deadline, but they also don’t want to sell the farm for one player. Key’s proposal here tries to give fans on both sides the best of both worlds. Pittsburgh, though, would be giving up a lot in this scenario if they reached their highest goals, no matter how unlikely they seem with the team currently on a two-game losing streak.
Realistically, if Las Vegas were willing to take a fifth for Meyers, he’d already be out of Las Vegas. And Key’s other three proposals to other teams all saw them give up more than Pittsburgh does.
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Still, Key’s proposal to make the deal between Pittsburgh and Las Vegas conditional is the right call. Just tweak it a bit to a fifth rounder that scales to a fourth if the Steelers make the postseason and scales to a third if Pittsburgh reaches the Super Bowl. That way, Pittsburgh isn’t overspending for Meyers in any regard since he’s not worth a second, but instead, Pittsburgh pays relative to his production.
Of course, the scale can only exist if he’s contributing to the success of the offense, so other language about snap percentages and stats would have to be included.
Still, if other teams offer third-round picks, like Key suggested, then Pittsburgh will already be out-bid, and a conditional scale offer would be laughable by comparison.