{"id":536414,"date":"2026-03-21T09:02:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T09:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/536414\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T09:02:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T09:02:09","slug":"if-steelers-want-to-stay-in-wr-trade-market-theres-one-team-to-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/536414\/","title":{"rendered":"If Steelers Want To Stay In WR Trade Market, There&#8217;s One Team To Call\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Pittsburgh Steelers are getting good at making a wide receiver trade. DK Metcalf last year, Michael Pittman this year. Odds are, their trades only happen once per year. But if GM Omar Khan is interested in making another, he should call the Denver Broncos, who may be looking to offload a name.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, Denver made a blockbuster deal to <a href=\"https:\/\/steelersdepot.com\/2026\/03\/once-rumored-to-pittsburgh-dolphins-ship-star-wr-jaylen-waddle-to-broncos\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">acquire Miami Dolphins\u2019 wideout Jaylen Waddle.<\/a> It\u2019s a major move that puts the Broncos in win-now mode. The team paid a high price \u2013 a first, third and fourth rounder \u2013 but it\u2019s a smart move with a quarterback on a rookie deal and the Kansas City Chiefs vulnerable for the first time in a decade.<\/p>\n<p>Adding Waddle leaves a surplus. Denver might be looking to offload a receiver now buried on the depth chart. The two most likely names? Troy Franklin or Marvin Mims.<\/p>\n<p>Mims has posted steady but unspectacular numbers. Last season, 37 receptions for 322 yards and one touchdown, a low average hiding his speed and downfield ability. That showed in the playoff with a 52-yard grab in the AFC Championship Game.<\/p>\n<p>Mims\u2019 real value to Pittsburgh could go beyond receiver. Mims is an accomplished returner, a two-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro (one first-team, one second-team) for his prowess there.<\/p>\n<p>Since entering the NFL in 2023, Mims ranks second league-wide in punt return average at a healthy 15.6 yards on 74 runbacks with one score. His touchdown came last season, a wild escape from a throng of Las Vegas Raiders\u2019 would-be tacklers to take it to the house.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s less successful as a kick returner, 26th league-wide at 26.6 yards, but that would be a breath of fresh air for a Pittsburgh team struggling to get out of the basement. Mims would come in as the starting kick and punt returner, and after the draft, probably a No. 4 receiver.<\/p>\n<p>Despite being in the league for three years, he just turned 24 years old. Mims\u2019 biggest drawback is his contract. He\u2019s entering the final year of his rookie deal with a base salary raised by his <a href=\"https:\/\/overthecap.com\/proven-performance-escalator\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">proven performance escalator.<\/a> But his price tag will be kept down and cheap.<\/p>\n<p>What would he cost? It\u2019s difficult to say. Maybe something simple like a fifth-rounder. Maybe something more complicated like a swap. Denver has just one Day Two pick and probably wants another. Perhaps Pittsburgh trades No. 99 and a sixth-rounder for Denver\u2019s fourth rounder, say No. 111.<\/p>\n<p>Franklin finished up a solid second year of his career, breaking out with 65 receptions, 709 yards and six touchdowns. Now, he\u2019s feeling the squeeze. He could remain as the No. 3 receiver, but if the team wants Pat Bryant for that role \u2013 last year\u2019s third round pick \u2013 Franklin may fall out of favor.<\/p>\n<p>In Pittsburgh, he could serve as the Steelers\u2019 No. 3 and truly lessen the need for the Steelers to address the position early. His cost might also be greater, possibly the No. 99 overall pick, but it could be worth it to get a player with a known NFL resume.<\/p>\n<p>Pittsburgh may choose to reject both ideas. The draft class is deep and offers plenty of receiving talent to help on offense and special teams. But if the Steelers want to keep working the phones, Denver is the place to search.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pittsburgh Steelers are getting good at making a wide receiver trade. DK Metcalf last year, Michael Pittman&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":536415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[7820,96370,349,1321,99,3795,46814],"class_list":["post-536414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-denver-broncos","tag-marvin-mims","tag-nfl","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-sports","tag-trending","tag-troy-franklin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/536415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}