Gerry Dulac’s recent intimations regarding Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq and the Pittsburgh Steelers were rather surprising, considering the Steelers appear set at the top of the TE depth chart with Darnell Washington and Pat Freiermuth.

But with the Steelers still needing an additional pass-catching weapon, and new head coach Mike McCarthy expressing his preference for big-bodied targets, Sadiq makes some sense on paper.

For former NFL GM Doug Whaley, who appeared on 93.7 The Fan’s Morning Show Wednesday, Sadiq could be that big-bodied, power slot for the Steelers, pairing with Freiermuth to give them major weapons in the passing game.

“Freiermuth is not gonna be devalued, but I just think they’re gonna put Mount Washington out there earlier and for the running experience and ability to block. Two, when I’m unpacking, this does not sound very good for Roman Wilson because he’s not a big target,” Whaley said. “And three, I could see them going for that receiving tight end, a la Freiermuth, but a little more dynamic. Like that Sadiq guy that has that speed.

“So he could be your de facto number three slot but also gives them a lot of flexibility of what to do with formations and personnel.”

That sounds a lot like what the Steelers tried to do last season with Jonnu Smith. The belief was that Smith, acquired in a trade late last June, could be a slot weapon while Freiermuth would remain a big part of the Steelers’ passing game.

Then the season started and that wasn’t the case at all, leading to a disappointing, frustrating season for Freiermuth, and a career-worst season for Smith. The latter was completely ineffective within Arthur Smith’s offense and was never on the same page with Aaron Rodgers before the Steelers mercifully released him after the season.

Rolling with a three-TE room once again and trying to carve out roles for all three, this time under McCarthy, would seem like a stretch for the Steelers. But it would give them options from a personnel perspective as Sadiq is an intriguing move TE.

Our scouting report compared Sadiq favorably to Los Angeles Rams standout TE Tyler Higbee.

Sadiq measured in at 6031, 241 and clocked an absurd 4.39 40-yard dash, which should terrify defenders.

“They could go 13 personnel and then be a mismatch, which we thought was gonna happen last year, right?” Whaley said. “With Arthur Smith and their collection of tight ends, but it never did. So this is kind of something that, is it gonna be foreshadowing or is McCarthy doing a Mike Tomlin, dangling some carrot carrots out there and say[ing], ‘Look over here’ and then back doors during the draft?”

Chances are Dulac’s claims regarding Sadiq and the Steelers’ interest in him are probably just what Whaley laid out, driving up some interest in the explosive tight end and maybe enticing a team to move up in the first round to draft him. Could the Kansas City Chiefs, who have two first-round picks, including No. 29 overall, try to come up to No. 21 overall to land Travis Kelce’s replacement?

If the Steelers’ interest in Sadiq is indeed real, it certainly wouldn’t be a good thing for third-year receiver Roman Wilson, whom McCarthy stated has a lot of love in the organization and is excited to work with moving forward.

We shall see what happens. But it seems a bit far-fetched that the Steelers, who have stated they want to get Freiermuth move involved, would add another mouth to feed at the position, especially in the first round of the draft.