The wheels are spinning at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex when it comes to what the Steelers offense could look like - regardless of who is at quarterback - with the addition of wide receiver DK Metcalf.
The Steelers acquired Metcalf from the Seattle Seahawks prior to the start of free agency last month in exchange for a second-round draft pick and a swap of late-round selections.
An argument could be made that it is the biggest move this offseason when it comes to an offensive weapon changing teams.
A two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver, Metcalf, all 6-foot-4, 235 pounds of him, is one of the biggest matchup problems for opposing defenses in the NFL and has been since he first came into the NFL in 2019 as a second-round draft pick out of Mississippi.
His size and speed - he ran in the 4.3s at the NFL Scouting Combine - make him something of a unicorn at the wide receiver position.
"From a competitive standpoint, as someone that's coached against the teams that he was on over the years, there's very little on the football field, from a wide receiver perspective, that he can't do," Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said earlier this week of Metcalf at the annual league meetings. "He's got short game, he's got long game. He's a combat-catch guy. He's got run-after (the catch ability), he's a devastating run blocker. We're really excited about the addition of DK Metcalf, and we're going to use all those talents."
When Metcalf was acquired, many wondered what that might mean in terms of the long-term future of fellow wideout George Pickens with the Steelers. Pickens is heading into the final season of his rookie contract with the team.
"You need more than one receiver in this league," Steelers GM Omar Khan said.
A second-round pick himself, Pickens has emerged as one of the best deep threats in the NFL thanks to his ability to contort his body and adjust to the ball, no matter where it's thrown. But there's more to his game than that, just as there is more to Metcalf's game than simply being big and fast.
And they could help each other unlock other aspects of the other's game.
In Seattle, Metcalf consistently drew safety help over the top as the Seahawks' other receivers over the years have been players who have done their best work underneath. Pickens has faced similar challenges with the Steelers.
Now, with two big, downfield threats, defenses will be forced to pick their poison when it comes to doubling a receiver on the outside.
"I don't necessarily view them as similar, to be quite honest with you," Tomlin said. "They're both downfield capable, but they're different people. I mean, DK is a big man, 'GP' is tall. There's a difference."
But both present issues for opponents that should not open things up for the other, but for the rest of the Steelers' receivers and in the running game.
It would be surprising to see a safety near the line of scrimmage when Pickens and Metcalf are on the field together in 2025. Pickens has averaged 16.3 yards per reception in his career, while Metcalf isn't far behind at 14.4 yards per catch.
For a team that wishes to run the ball as much as the Steelers do – only the Ravens and Eagles ran it more in 2025 – that's significant.
• After missing all but one game in which he played five snaps in his rookie season, 2024 third-round draft pick Roman Wilson is being written off by some. But not the Steelers.
In fact, the Steelers have high expectations for Wilson in 2025.
Some felt because the Steelers didn't activate the rookie off the reserve/injured list late in the season it was because he had fallen out of favor. But there was more involved than that.
Wilson missed most of training camp and all of the preseason with an ankle injury. Then, a hamstring injury landed him on IR.
By the time he was healthy again, too much season had gone by to simply put him in the lineup. He had missed too much time.
"He was healthy, but healthy and football readiness are two different things," Tomlin said. "When you're coming back from injury, you're essentially getting on a moving train. That is the analogy that I like to use, and we talk about a guy that had very little NFL experience, and so he was healthy at the end of the year. He was working extremely hard in practice, but a real avenue never presented itself due to the misfortune of others, or what have you for him to contribute.
"But we're expecting really good things for him in his second year. I think that's a reasonable expectation. I think from time to time, guys get faced with injury and it derails their start, but by no means do we feel like it's going to define his career. Calvin Austin is an example of that. Calvin missed a significant portion of his rookie year, similar to Roman, and over the last two years, he's gone on to move away from that, to be a real positive contributor to our efforts, and we expect some of those things from Roman."
Austin missed his entire rookie season with a foot injury suffered in training camp, but he's caught 53 passes for 728 yards and five touchdowns in the past two seasons while also averaging 9.4 yards per punt return.
With the addition of Metcalf and the return of Wilson, it's like the Steelers have acquired two new receivers this offseason.
• The Steelers have drafted five offensive linemen in the past two seasons, including taking tackles Broderick Jones and Troy Fautanu in the first round and center Zach Frazier in the second.
With Jones, Fautanu, Frazier and guards Isaac Seumalo and Mason McCormick returning, it would seem the Steelers' five starting offensive linemen are in place, with Jones moving over to left tackle and Fautanu coming back from a rookie season that saw him make one start at right tackle before being injured.
But Tomlin isn't ready to say his starting five are set.
"I feel like we have some guys that are certainly capable of the role," Tomlin said. "But to say that (the line is set) as I sit here, would be untrue. I don't know who I'm going to end up with or who I'm going to be in position to consider."
Does that mean the Steelers will take an offensive lineman in the first round for a third-straight season? Not exactly. But they also won't turn their nose up at acquiring another talented lineman if the opportunity arises.
"The trenches are important," Khan said. "I've always talked about those big guys on both sides of the ball, so we understand where we're at."
As the Steelers found out in 2024, when they had four different offensive linemen make their first career start in the first six games of the season, injuries happen. You'd better be prepared for them.
• Dale Lolley is co-host of "SNR Drive" on Steelers Nation Radio. Subscribe to the podcast here: Apple Podcast | iHeart Podcast Pittonline@iheartmedia.com
• With some pass rushers in the NFL signing significant extensions, both Tomlin and Khan were asked about what that might mean for Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt, who is heading into the final season of his contract.
The Steelers have been as adamant about their desire to sign Watt to an extension at some point as Watt has been about wishing to remain with the Steelers.
"I'll just say that I'm very hopeful that T.J. will finish his career as a Steeler," Khan said.
Watt's sack numbers dipped last season to 11.5. And with him now at 30, there are concerns in some circles that he's starting to slip.
But his 11.5 sacks marked the team-record sixth time in his eight-year career that he's reached double digits in sacks. And his game is not simply about rushing the passer. Per Pro Football Focus, he was the highest-graded run stopper in the league in 2024.
"I'm not worried about T.J.'s production," Tomlin said. "T.J. is a significant player. Ask anybody that is on our team, or anybody that he competes against."
That's the thing that's overlooked by some. Watt affects the game in ways only the top pass rushers can. They have to be accounted for on every play, lest they wreck the game.
Watt has proven time and again, he's very capable of doing that even when he's getting double and triple-teamed.
• We now have less than three weeks remaining before the 2025 NFL Draft.
That means we also have less than three weeks before the Steelers are on the clock, first for the 2025 Draft and then to host the 2026 NFL Draft.
The upcoming draft is going to be exciting to be sure. The 2026 NFL Draft is going to be electric.
