Last month, the Steelers traded contract-year wide receiver Martavis Bryant to the Raiders and essentially replaced him with second-rounder James Washington. This marked the latest of Pittsburgh’s decisions to move on from wideout talent during or after a first contract.
This practice has transpired for many years. In the late 1990s, the Steelers opted to let a few of their young wideouts walk as free agents. One of the first such defections came on this day 21 years ago, when the Saints signed Andre Hastings.
Hastings was a third-round Pittsburgh pick in 1993 and played on four early-Bill Cowher-era teams. Hastings’ most notable contribution came in catching a game-high 10 passes for 98 yards in Super Bowl XXX, and in his contract year, he produced a career-high 739 yards and six touchdown receptions. That was second on the 1996 Steelers, behind Yancey Thigpen, whom Pittsburgh let leave for a monster Tennessee Oilers contract in the 1998 offseason.
For the otherwise forgettable 1997 Saints, Hastings again produced a 700-plus-yard season — second to Randal Hill (also signed on May 28, 1997) — and played two more years in New Orleans. But for Pittsburgh, it was one of the first of many similar choices involving homegrown wide receivers.
The Steelers let 1998 receiving leader Charles Johnson, a 1994 first-rounder, walk in free agency before forming a stable set of wideouts — the Hines Ward/Plaxico Burress/Antwaan Randle El troika — over the next few years. This group established consistency in the early 2000s. The Steelers chose to keep Ward long-term and let Burress and Randle El walk. While the former enjoyed a strong stint with the Giants, the Steelers have proven for decades now they can identify receiving talent capable of replacing departed standouts. The next wave involved first- and third-round picks Santonio Holmes and Mike Wallace, both of whom were not retained as UFAs despite playing key roles for Super Bowl-qualifying teams. Both enjoyed their best seasons in western Pennsylvania.
Pittsburgh has since hit on a third-round pick in Emmanuel Sanders and a fourth-rounder in Bryant, with neither seeing a second Steelers contract. While Sanders delivered far superior work in Denver than in Pittsburgh, the Steelers rightly prioritized Antonio Brown, who has since signed two extensions and has authored one of the most dominant stretches by a pass-catcher in NFL history.
The cycle’s continuing with Washington, who joins Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster. Although a proven (albeit mercurial) deep threat in Bryant is out of the picture, the Steelers have a receiver trio that’s now locked up for at least three more seasons. And the franchise has shown a time-tested acumen for big-picture planning in this department, churning out wideouts regardless of the ones that leave.
Tennessee Oilers? Did I miss something?
The Tennessee Titans used to be the Oilers for a short time (1997-1998) after the franchise moved there from Houston.
What’s interesting about Brown being a 6th round pick is that right after the draft Steelers people were quoted as saying that he could be a star. Clearly it wasn’t unanimous or else he’d have gone earlier, but at least a few people in the building knew what they had right away.
Santonio Holmes was a first round pick and traded to the Jets. He didn’t leave in FA. Some of the fact checking in these articles is really bad lately.
It says he was a first round pick. Maybe you need to check before you post too.
He said he was TRADED and didn’t leave in FREE AGENCY. Maybe you need to read what he actually said before you post too.