The Pittsburgh Steelers are reportedly trying to position themselves to trade for Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams.
Dianna Russini of The Athletic noted that after the Steelers missed out on an offseason deal for wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, who signed a contract extension with the San Francisco 49ers, they are making an “aggressive offer” for Adams and have been in touch with the Raiders.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported this week that Adams would like to be traded and favors a move to the New York Jets since he would be reunited with his former Green Bay Packers teammate in quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
However, Rapoport also named several other teams that have either reached out to the Raiders or that Adams would be happy to play for, and the Steelers were among them.
Pittsburgh is off to a surprising 3-1 start this season thanks largely to a dominant defense tha ranks second in the NFL in scoring defense and fourth in total defense.
The Steelers have also gotten solid play out of quarterback Justin Fields, who is in his first year with the franchise following a trade from the Chicago Bears.
Fields was initially tabbed to be the Steelers’ backup, but veteran Russell Wilson suffered a calf injury prior to the start of the regular season, and he has yet to appear in a game.
While his numbers aren’t spectacular, Fields is completing a career-best 70.6 percent of his passes for 830 yards with three touchdowns and one interception, while also rushing for 145 yards and three scores.
Steelers No. 1 wideout George Pickens leads the team in receptions (20) and receiving yardage (284), but the Steelers haven’t gotten much production from the rest of their wide receivers.
Calvin Austin is second on the team among wide receivers with seven catches and 125 yards, and no other wideout has more than five catches or 36 yards.
When Pittsburgh traded wide receiver Diontae Johnson to the Carolina Panthers during the offseason, it left the Steelers with a massive hole at the WR2 spot opposite Pickens.
Adams would perhaps be the perfect candidate to fill that role given that the 31-year-old veteran is a six-time Pro Bowler and three-time First Team All-Pro who entered this season with four straight 1,000-yard seasons and six consecutive Pro Bowl selections to his credit.
It is fair to wonder, though, if Adams would want to go to a team with an unsettled quarterback situation given that is what he is already dealing with in Vegas with Gardner Minshew struggling and Aidan O’Connell waiting in the wings.
Fields is the starter for now in Pittsburgh, but if Wilson gets healthy, head coach Mike Tomlin could make a change at any time.
Also, Fields hasn’t exactly put big-time passing numbers up throughout his career, although he did have a great connection last season in Chicago with D.J. Moore, who finished with a career-high 96 catches for 1,364 yards and eight touchdowns.
Ultimately, Adams does not have a no-trade clause, so if the Steelers make the Raiders a better offer than any other team, Adams technically can’t block the trade.
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