Many Pittsburgh Steelers fans have been all in on the team making a trade for San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk since news broke that there is a contract dispute. Aiyuk is entering the final year of his rookie contract and has reportedly asked for upwards of $30 million yearly, while the 49ers offered about $26 million.
That is a lot of money, especially for the Steelers. Pittsburgh just signed its largest free agent contract in history with Patrick Queen and his three-year, $41 million deal. The $30 million for Aiyuk doesn't even include the trade compensation they would have to give, likely at least one first-round pick.
Fans who are desperate for the deal cite that the team once traded for Minkah Fitzpatrick, and this isn't much different. However, Steelers reporter Christopher Carter from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette doesn't think that's a fair comparison. On a recent episode of his podcast, Locked on Steelers, Carter explained why the two situations differ.
"If they trade for Aiyuk now, he's about to head into his fifth season, they need to pay him. When they traded for Minkah Fitzpatrick, he was in his second year in the NFL and very early into it. They got his second year, his third year, his fourth year, and his fifth-year option, all in his rookie deal."
Carter says the Steelers expected Fitzpatrick to be one of the best safeties in the league, and they were right. Despite being used incorrectly last season, Carter believes that Fitzpatrick will bounce back, lead the league in interceptions, and be a top safety again.
Another issue with comparing the two trades is that Aiyuk is not at a comparable production level to other players making that amount of money. He points out that paying him $30 million yearly is similar to Tyreek Hill's contract and more than Cooper Kupp, Davante Adams, or DK Metcalf are making.
"No one is saying that Brandon Aiyuk's the best at the wide receiver position, and he'd be asking for more than Minkah Fitzpatrick. If you're not that level of wide receiver like Ja'Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, Tyreek Hill, Cooper Kupp, if you're not in that category, and I don't think he's in that category, he hasn't been a superstar wide receiver. He's a very good one, but I think this is where a lot of teams historically make mistakes; they pay number one money or super elite money for good to very good talent."
He cites two examples of this with former Steelers: Antwaan Randle El and Bryant McFadden. In the case of both, they performed well for the Steelers, usually as a second or third-string player. They got offered first-string money from another team and left. They ended up back in Pittsburgh on team-friendly deals after they weren't successful elsewhere.
The Steelers currently have George Pickens slotted in the top spot, but there is a degree of uncertainty about the rest of the room. That includes Roman Wilson, Calvin Austin III, Quez Watkins, Scotty Miller, and Van Jefferson.
The Steelers Love To Grown Their Own
Pittsburgh has a knack for finding and developing talent among young receivers. Therefore, it goes against the norm for them to drop a massive contract on a big name; but it isn't just the offense.
Carter said the team is best off developing the talent from within, which is their preference. When you roll the dice, you must worry about on-field performance and whether he assimilates well into your team culture. This happened with Melvin Ingram, who was signed in free agency. He said initially he was fine with Alex Highsmith starting over him, but then he wasn't as the season started. He requested a trade, and Head Coach Mike Tomlin commented that this was an example of why they prefer to draft and develop players.
The status of the wide receiver room will remain a topic of conversation until the current room can be evaluated at training camp. What do you think about the Aiyuk trade? Is it wrong to compare it to Fitzpatrick?
