The trade Steelers must execute before the deadline couldn't be more obvious

The clock is ticking on the 2024 NFL trade deadline. The Pittsburgh Steelers need to speak now or forever hold their piece. In less than 24 hours, the deadline will pass and all teams will be forced to move forward with the group of players on the roster.

While some teams will be selling at the deadline, the Steelers should be buyers. This team is 6-2 at the halfway point of the season and looking for a boost that could help them compete with the cream of the crop in the AFC.

One trade they should make couldn't be more obvious.

For months, Steelers fans have been banging the table for this team to trade for a wide receiver. After their deal for Brandon Aiyuk fell through, Pittsburgh threw their hat in the ring for Davante Adams and asked about Cooper Kupp, but no trade surfaced.

With just hours to go before the door closes on a possible trade, the Steelers need to finalize a deal with the New York Giants for wide receiver Darius Slayton.

Steelers must trade for Darius Slayton before the deadline

Though Calvin Austin III and Van Jefferson are coming off their best performances with the Steelers, Pittsburgh can't be content with settling at the WR position. At 5'7 3/4'', Austin simply doesn't have the frame to be a down-to-down difference-maker while Jefferson lacks explosion and the ability to separate consistently.

Slayton could turn things around in a hurry. Thanks to his 4.39 speed and downfield ball tracking, the fourth-year receiver would be a perfect pairing with Russell Wilson and Arthur Smith's offense.

Adding Slayton to the mix would threaten opposing defenses deep down the field and draw some attention away from George Pickens. This move would bump Austin and Jefferson down a spot in the pecking order and give the Steelers a stronger lineup to deploy -- maximizing their offensive potential.

The Giants, meanwhile, are a 2-7 football team with no hope of competing in 2024. Instead of letting Slayton play out the remainder of his contract and walk during the 2025 offseason, they could get something for him now.

The Steelers have a pair of fifth-round picks in the 2025 NFL Draft. They could send one of these to New York for Slayton and a seventh-rounder. This should be enough to get the job done.

Pittsburgh can't sit idly by and watch the trade deadline pass without making a valiant effort to trade for Darius Slayton. This is the chess piece Pittsburgh's offense has been missing and their chances of competing in the playoffs increase if they can execute a trade for the speedy receiver.