PITTSBURGH -- Faced with a razor-thin margin of error in the final two games of the 2025 regular season, the Pittsburgh Steelers were without their most expensive offseason acquisition in wide receiver DK Metcalf . The eight-year veteran, acquired by Pittsburgh from Seattle in March 2025 with a second-round pick and secured with a four-year, $132-million extension, was suspended two games for an altercation with a fan during the Week 16 win in Detroit.
That left the Steelers with a patchwork receiver group of late-season additions and role players as they tried to clinch the AFC North title. And if they didn't, their season was over.
The Steelers split those final two games, clinching a playoff berth in Week 18 as the Baltimore Ravens ' would-be game-winning field goal sailed wide right. But Metcalf's absence exposed and solidified an unavoidable truth: The Steelers' wide receiver well was running dry.
In the Week 17 loss to the Cleveland Browns , a Steelers wide receiver corps of Scottie Miller, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Adam Thielen caught just eight passes for 60 yards. A week later, the unit was more involved with a touchdown from Calvin Austin III and a combined 13 receptions for 141 yards.
Still, this roster construction was untenable; they needed help, and they needed it ASAP. After entering the past two seasons without a high profile No.
2 receiver, the Steelers struggled to build consistent wide receiver depth. As a result, team brass prioritized shoring up the position this offseason.
Now, the team enters training camp with a deep corps that features two experienced, veteran receivers, a highly touted rookie, a handful of up-and-comers and a versatile special-teamer not afraid to do the dirty work of the position. It's the foundation for a pass-catching group that coach Mike McCarthy envisions being interchangeable and dynamic.
"DK [Metcalf] has been great," Steelers wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr . said during OTAs in May.
"I think me and him are going to do well and like obviously if teams are going to double-team him, then that's going to leave me free. If they're going to double-team me, it's going to leave him free.
So it's going to be great. And then we got Germ [ Germie Bernard ] and Rome [ Roman Wilson ], too.
We're not shorthanded on pass catchers." That was hardly the case last season. The Steelers' wide receivers were among the league's least productive units in 2025, combining for 136 receptions (ranking 31st), 1,716 receiving yards (29th) and 76 first downs (30th).
The Steelers signaled they were going to be aggressive in adding wide receivers from the first day of free agency's negotiating window when they traded for Pittman . A six-year veteran, Pittman is a significant WR2 upgrade from a season ago.
Not only did he rack up 357 receptions over the past four seasons, sixth most in the NFL over that span, but he is one of 10 wide receivers with at least 60 receptions in each of the past five seasons. The Steelers' last wide receiver with 60 receptions in a season was George Pickens in 2023.
"We're really excited about Pitt, just like we are with all our receivers," Steelers offensive coordinator Brian Angelichio said in April. "He'll be a great complement for DK, certainly a great complement for the tight ends and the runners, opens up holes.
Just gives us another big-body guy that's got really good hands and has done a really good job of moving the chains in this league." With seven years of experience, Metcalf was the team's best and most experienced receiver in 2025, but the team's next leading receiver was Austin, who was playing in just his third NFL season. Limited by injuries and opportunity, Austin finished with the second-most receiving yards among wide receivers (372) -- behind Metcalf's team-best 850.
Running back Kenny Gainwell not only led the team in receptions (73), but he and tight end Pat Freiermuth each had 486 receiving yards. (The Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed Gainwell to a two-year deal in March ).
Though the details of McCarthy's offense are still largely under wraps, in his previous stops, the coach has relied heavily on his wide receivers. McCarthy's wide receiver corps led the league in receptions four times, including the Dallas Cowboys ' 2023 unit in which CeeDee Lamb led the NFL with 135 receptions and 87 first downs.
Like his approach to the offensive line, McCarthy values interchangeability in his wide receivers. "I played every single spot so far, just being ab