Another former Arthur Smith Falcons charge is coming to Pittsburgh. Following Cordarrelle Patterson, MyCole Pruitt and Van Jefferson‘s Steelers signings, Scotty Miller will be en route to Pennsylvania.
The Steelers and Miller agreed to terms Wednesday, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter tweets. It is a one-year deal. Miller played one season under Smith in Atlanta; he remains best known for his contributions in Tampa.
Miller, 26, worked as an auxiliary wideout for a Falcons team that struggled through the air. The former Bucs draftee caught 11 passes for 161 yards and two touchdowns last season. That number bettered Jefferson’s Atlanta production, though the latter arrived during the season via trade, but still ranked fourth among Atlanta wide receivers.
It is clear the Steelers are giving Smith input when it comes to acquisitions, as three of his tertiary Falcons targets and a key blocking tight end are in the mix. Granted, only Patterson appears a lock to be on Pittsburgh’s 53-man roster come Week 1. But each will bring scheme familiarity. The 5-foot-9 weapon could offer Pittsburgh another slot option in addition to Calvin Austin.
Miller made steady contributions to the Bucs’ Super Bowl LV-winning team but did not factor into the final two Tom Brady-piloted passing attacks much. In 2020, however, the Bowling Green alum worked alongside Mike Evans and Chris Godwin to give Brady a nice receiving trio in his first Tampa Bay season. Miller caught 33 passes for 501 yards and three touchdowns that year. He eclipsed 70 receiving yards four times from Week 1 to Week 7. The Bucs’ turbulent Antonio Brown partnership led to Miller’s role being reduced, though the latter’s first-half-ending deep TD grab helped Tampa Bay hold off Green Bay in the 2020 NFC championship game.
A 2019 sixth-rounder, Miller has not eclipsed 200 yards in a season since that 2020 campaign. That season doubles as the most recent slate in which Miller topped 275 offensive snaps. A turf toe bout limited him in 2021. The Falcons did use Miller as a kick returner last season, though the Steelers — barring what would be a shocking Justin Fields experiment — are all but set to use Patterson there to take advantage of the recent NFL rule change.
Following their Diontae Johnson trade, the Steelers have George Pickens anchoring their receiver group and third-round pick Roman Wilson having a clear path to becoming his top sidekick. Beyond that, the team has taken a quantity-based approach. In addition to ex-Falcons, the likes of Quez Watkins, Denzel Mims and Marquez Callaway are on the Steelers’ 90-man offseason roster. This will create an interesting competition for roster spots, as this setup will require a few veterans to be denied roster spots come September.
Low Budget Avengers unite
Just ask Drake “No BBL” London what’s waiting for any WR when Smith is OC
Lmao No BBL lmao
Getting a little anxiety over the WR position. Still say they made a mistake not signing Boyd. I knew him when he was in high school. Was a very fine tuned young man. Shame steelers didn’t sign him
With Arthur Smith, you have to figure they’ll play three receiver sets way less often, so it becomes less of a concern. Especially if Washington is ready to take on a much bigger role and they can feel good about lining up in 12 personnel.
Miller is a good get, a possession receiver who seems to be a solid route runner. Boyd would have fit in well but there must be more to the story of why he went elsewhere.
I have to believe they’ll utilize their tight ends a helluva lot more under Smith and admittedly feel pretty good about drafting Wilson of Michigan
Miller is a straight-up deep threat. His career average depth of target is 14.8 yards. That’s not quite MVS levels, but it’s a full 6 yards more than Boyd. And for all Russell Wilson’s faults, he’s always thrown a nice deep ball.
Miller is also a guy that will never make a play on the ball. He needs the ball perfectly placed on him, he never jumps for a ball that will be contested.
Taking the system-fit approach over the talent-level approach. I guess we will see how that works out Cotton. Not like we are going to be throwing much with Wilson or Fields anyway.
Just a laughable WR room if we’re being honest. Sad. Straight up Pickens, a rookie, and bum after bum.
I don’t think Austin is a bum. Let’s see what he can do in Smith’s offense. Same goes for Wilson
I’ll give it a season before joining you on this one. But yeah, wish they’d have brought a big timer in
I’ve heard the Aiyuk rumors but that doesn’t move the needle for me. Price would be high and I’d have real concerns he’s not as good as he looks in the SF offense.
I just heard the name DK Metcalf. Hmmm.
That guy is a beast and pairing him with Pickens on the outside with the speed guys in the slot with a stout running game and play action? Now you might have something.
I think you’re relating rumors that are a week old, 66. Agree with you about DK. Best name they were throwing around
And Benz details what the Niners wanted for Aiyuk and Deebo in this morning’s Trib. I tend to agree with him that he was worth a 1st round pick, hindsight being 20/20, but it appears the windows for all these guys have closed
Austin is too small for the position and not explosive enough to be a KR/PR. I’m fine with Roman Wilson – but the rest are useless. Hope to God GP doesn’t go down.
Why do they give arthur such leeway?
A horrible recent past. I get giving him another chance, but not doubling down on it by giving him more control.
Once you hire a guy, for better or worse, you commit to his system.
Should they give him players who fit his system or players who do not?
We’re talking about guys who are rounding out the bottom of a receiver depth chart. It’s not that big a deal.
Kevin King and cheeseheads STILL have nightmares about this guy.