It remains to be seen how the Steelers’ starting quarterback situation will play out for next season. Regardless of who is in place under center, though, D.K. Metcalf will face high expectations with his new team. 
The Pro Bowl wideout was acquired via trade last week, giving the Steelers their long-sought-after upgrade at the position. A second-round pick was flipped to Seattle, with Day 3 selections also being swapped in advance of a massive extension being worked out. Metcalf (who was a pending 2026 free agent) is now attached to a four-year, $132MM extension in Pittsburgh.
The Steelers’ efforts to add a high-profile receiver date back to last year’s Brandon Aiyuk pursuit and the continued push to make a move at the position during the 2024 campaign. An acquisition on that front clearly remained a high organizational priority in Metcalf’s case, and The Exhibit’s Josina Anderson reports head coach Mike Tomlin was “very adamant” about trading for the 27-year-old. Pittsburgh ranked 27th in the NFL in passing yards last season, and a step forward in that regard would be key in improving on offense in 2025.
Finances were of course a factor in this situation. Talk of a Metcalf deal swirled even before his request to be moved went public, and the Seahawks lowered their initial asking price regarding a trade shortly before the Pittsburgh swap was worked out. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer writes the timing of the trade was affected by Metcalf’s desire to immediately ink a new deal. Seattle generally finalizes extensions during the summer (which is the case with other NFL franchises as well), so remaining in place for a few months may have opened the door to a third Seahawks contract.
On the other hand, Metcalf was known to be seeking a pact averaging at least $30MM per season, and Seattle may well have declined to make such a commitment at any point in the offseason as a result. The trade and Tyler Lockett‘s release have been followed by a Cooper Kupp contract and a new deep threat in the form of Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Those additions will be tasked with contributing to a WR room anchored by 2023 first-rounder Jaxon Smith-Njigba now and well into the future. Metcalf, meanwhile, will represent a focal point in Pittsburgh’s passing attack regardless of what happens with George Pickens (who is entering the final year of his rookie pact).
Regarding Metcalf’s Steelers deal, $60MM of the $80MM in locked in money is guaranteed in full (h/t Over the Cap). That figure includes a $30MM signing bonus, along with his base salaries in 2025 ($5MM) and ’26 ($25MM). The Ole Miss product will receive roster bonuses of $6.5MM, $5MM and $5MM on March 17 every year from 2027-29. Metcalf will carry a cap charge of just over $11MM next year, but beyond that his cap numbers will spike to $31MM and beyond; much of the Steelers’ success on offense will thus depend on the success of Tomlin and Co.’s investment.
Tomlin’s finger is in every pie, of course.
True, but in this case I can’t blame him. If I were him the thought of another year rolling out Van Jefferson and the ghost of Mike Williams as my #2 WRs would be enough to get me to insist on Metcalf at just about any price.
Mike is great at beating bad to average teams to stay above .500. Playoff teams crush him non-stop.
Agree arty! and would say the continuing merry-go-round at QB since Ben’s injury is the biggest factor. Drafting well and developing a kid would be paramount at some point but it never seemed to work that way. They allowed Roethlisberger to sulk over the “audacity” to draft a QB and see beyond his playing days. They drafted a kid out of Pitt who essentially had one big year. The rest on the carousel?
Duck. Trubisky. Fields. Russ. Oy
And he’s going the same route again.
All I can figure is that DK saw a big pay day and bought into Tomlin’s loquacious abilities.
When have they beaten a bad team?
they won 10 games with half of those wins coming against
playoff teams. Wilson ran out of gas or broke down after a few games. Should have switched back to fields maybe.
Yep. People be saying anything. The Ravens with Lamar Jackson just finally beat them last year. He had one win over the Steelers coming into last year. If anything Tomlin’s teams problem is playing down to bad competition.
And going into playoff games woefully unprepared
Or going into playoff games that they don’t have any business being in the last ten years.
Hmm.
I guess a number of fans here didn’t watch their games against PHIL, KC and BAL. They didn’t just get beaten, they got manhandled. Down the stretch of those last five games, you had commentators making note of them looking like they didn’t want to be there, or getting pushed around, or downright quitting
Wouldn’t have mattered who the QB was.
And yeah, that’s all on Tomlin. The great motivator.
Tomlin is getting desperate. Metcalf was a horrible move considering all the other holes on the roster and the fact that you have no qb to throw him the ball. Signing Rodgers will be the next desperation move from an organization that traditionally doesn’t make such desperation moves. They done nothing to fix the defense that got run over last year. This organization is in a bit of a mess and Tomlin is at fault. Time for a rebuild, not time to give out bad contracts to a wr and a washed up qb.
Tomlin is protecting that no losing seasons record now, and it looks like there’s no path out of purgatory (edge of playoffs every year) without tearing the team down and enjoying some franchise changing top picks, dropping cap now to deploy the savings later and doing a huge youth drive which would see team calibre drop for a season and a half before recovery.
Not sure how a very expensive deep ball receiver changes that.
If Rodgers does come to town, the DK Metcalf signing makes more sense. Or if the Steelers really planned to bring back Russell Wilson, DK Metcalf and Wilson are close friends.
MrMuyBueno ,
Did you just name the two Super Bowl teams and the favorite all year to be there as your evidence? Again, this is Steeler fans’ problem. You are a very delusional fan base. When they were 10-3, what did you think about them? Fact is that they were punching well above their weight class as usual considering the roster and QB situation. I really do wish you would get a taste of what some of these other franchises like the Dolphins and Raiders have gone through as they’ve fallen from grace where you seem to want to be for some reason. When Tomlin is gone, a lot of you are going to realize that just like this blurb mentions how he got Metcalf to buy in, he’s been the only thing that franchise has had going for itself for a while now. Ben was washed up after the elbow, and the defense fades every year on the back end of the season. Offensive line is terrible. Harris and Pickett were the cornerstone offensive draft picks that were supposed to be the new Roethlisberger and Jerome Bettis, and it didn’t work out that way. The one position they usually get right, WR, produced another head case in a long line of them for the franchise. Yet your fan base is still complaining. Like you literally play in the same division with two of the best QBs in the division and are still competing with them for division titles with no QB. Sometimes I wonder if you fans are insane.