New surprising trade target floated for Pittsburgh Steelers at wide receiver

While the Pittsburgh Steelers lost out on the Brandon Aiyuk sweepstakes after he re-signed with the San Francisco 49ers, Steelers general manager Omar Khan might be on the phone again with 49ers general manager John Lynch for a wide receiver.

Connected 49ers insider Mike Silver said that after the signing of Aiyuk, it could put another wide receiver, Deebo Samuel, on the trade block. While the team will not trade him right now, if they are struggling midseason, Samuel could be moved. If so, the Steelers would be one of the teams at the heart of that discussion, especially after they asked about Samuel around the NFL Draft in discussions with the 49ers but could not agree on a price.

Samuel, the 49ers’ second-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft out of South Carolina, is a unique player with his build. His YAC skills remain impressive, but injuries are starting to catch up to Samuel and his physical style of play, all of which have a shorter shelf life than what another wide receiver would have, but Samuel’s play style feels like one of one in the league.

Still, the 49ers will have to make sacrifices somewhere along the way, and to keep Aiyuk around, trading Samuel seems almost a given. It is just when they would trade Samuel, which could be as early as this Fall or the Steelers might have to wait until the new league year in March.

The 2021 First-Team All-Pro selection would be the type of player the Steelers are looking for in their offense. Even though he is a far different player than Aiyuk or anyone else the Steelers went after on the trade market, he would work well next to George Pickens. If Samuel is on the trade block by the trade deadline and the Steelers are competitive, expect them to place a call to the 49ers and potentially make that move to upgrade their wide receiver room.