Steelers next move REVEALED... (and it's wild)

Steelers already went to Indianapolis once this year to trade for a receiver. That receiver, Michael Pittman Jr., is now on the injury reserve, and Pittsburgh is calling the Colts again. They're calling about a 25-year-old slot receiver on the last year of his rookie deal on a team that not only just fired its general manager, but just made a huge trade moments ago with the Seahawks. We're talking about Josh Downs, and new reports have started to fly surrounding the Steelers, and things are getting very real as the Colts are having a full-blown fire sale. So to break down everything, discuss what it means going forward. Before we get into it, quick reminder to hit that subscribe button. You guys are a beast with the support. So where is this all coming from? It obviously starts in Indianapolis with the Colts. The Colts are 2-5. They just fired general manager Chris Ballard. And clearly now, Ed Dodds, their interim GM, is ready to make moves. And Colts reporter Stephen Holder said it straight out. firing your GM and not a coach strongly suggests we might be headed for a fire sale here. And not only that, literally five, 10 minutes ago, they made a trade with the Seahawks and clearly now more moves are coming for them. And the Colts have already been moving a lot of their receivers. They obviously traded away Michael Pittman to us, to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Adonai Mitchell, and now Josh Downs would be the next one out the door. Now, a new report dropped from Jerry Fowler of ESPN naming Josh Downs as a player to watch before the deadline. And in the same breath, he said, quote, the Pittsburgh Steelers are another team to watch as a potential player in the wide receiver market as well. But not only that, Daniel Popper of The Athletic put together the best fits for Josh Downs, and Pittsburgh, once again, was at the top of the list, paired with the 49ers, the Raiders, the Chiefs, and the Seahawks, and his pitch was pretty clear. Downs is good, cheap, and on an expiring deal. And it makes even more sense when you start to look at what the Seahawks, not what the Seahawks are, what the Steelers need, how much they're willing to give up, and maybe even more importantly, the lack of leverage that the Colts have. Now, the trade deadline is November 10th. The Steelers play Cleveland on Sunday and then go to their bye week, so this is the last game before the phones get really busy for the Steelers. So why would the Steelers even be in this market? We obviously know what happened to the wide receiver room the past three weeks. Michael Pittman Jr., he went down with an injury. He might be back somewhat soon. Roman Wilson's out for the next three or four weeks. Ben Scrunic also missed the Saints game, but he's not going. He's more of a special teams guy, really. He's going to be a WR2 or WR3, so it's clear that they need a wide receiver. Now in Paris, we know they called up Brandon Smith and Brandon Johnson, and one of the Brandons got their first career catch as well, but this is how thin the wide receiving room is. Their WR3 are guys that basically have no NFL experience, or at least any recent NFL experience with actual impact. And through seven games, not a single Steelers player has 400 receiving yards. DK Metcalf leads the team with 374 and the number two receiver is a rookie it is Jeremy Bernard who has 27 catches good for 254 yards in six games and against tampa he actually set the steelers rookie record with 11 catches in one game so it's clear that Omar Khan is on the phone on October 18th NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported the Steelers have been calling around on veteran receivers since the injuries last week so you're probably noticing a pattern here it is report after report revealing the Steelers are looking for what seems like a WR3 even after the signing of Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Mark Cavalli who covers the team for the Pat McAfee Show, went further on Saturday night saying that they are aiming for a semi-big trade at wide receiver. And then just this morning, Jason LaCapora wrote that he expects Pittsburgh to make a big move before the deadline. And he quoted a personnel executive who said Aaron Rodgers is completing just 58% of his passes to Metcalf in 21 games together. Now there is some conflicting reports. Jerry Dulac said that after the signing of Marquez Valdez-Scantling that they're not trying to make a huge trade and they're just trying to apply band-aids but i don't think that is the case as Ray Fitzgerald said the receiver is the one position he could see the team trading for so there is some conflicting reports but one thing is for sure they are going after receiver and Josh Downs fits the bill perfectly so who is Josh Downs he's a third round pick in 2023 built for the slot and he has been steady since entering the NFL i mean as a rookie put up 771 yards for 68 passes in 2024 he caught 72 balls good for 803 yards five touchdowns and keep in mind that's with whatever you want to call the quarterback position over there in Indianapolis and we saw it there last November when he had a pretty good game six passes 57 yards and a touchdown against Pittsburgh but here's the interesting part this year he has 26 catches good for 307 yards and no touchdowns in seven games and he's been under 50 yards in each of his last four his last touchdown catch it was December 14th of last year so almost a year ago in Seattle now to be fair his best deep threat Alec Pierce has been out since week two and Indy's whole offense is kind of sputtered it's been really really bad but it does raise a real question and that question is is Downs better right now than Jeremy Bernard that's a big question and i'm not entirely sold on that but i also don't think that going out and trading for Josh Downs immediately means you have to take Jeremy Bernard out of the slot you have to you know give Jeremy Bernard less reps i just think adding depth at this point is pretty important when we're talking about Bernard versus Josh Downs this is a rookie in Jeremy Bernard and he's a lot of pressure has already been put on him though he seems to be kind of excelling at it but i think the bigger thing here is if you can take advantage and get Josh Downs for cheap potentially extend him after i don't hate the idea and as a actual fit he fits very very well the biggest question will be is Jeremy Bernard the real deal which i think he is and if so maybe that makes him a little bit less interested so what would it cost Omar Khan let's start with the money Downs counts for 4.19 million against the cap this year and the team that trades from now only makes obviously only takes on with prorated amount that's left on his salary talking about what they actually would have to give up there's been some guesses between a third and a fourth round pick now keep in mind the Pittsburgh don't own uh the Pittsburgh Steelers rather don't own their 2027 fourth rounder anymore went to Dallas in the Broderick Jones trade but that trade also gave them a second third rounder back so in theory they could trade a third round pick they do have two thirds to play with here now the bigger question might be next year Downs is a free agent he's projected to make over 65 million you know three years so you're kind of trading for rental which is why I think you only go after him if the cost is fairly cheap but again Josh Downs is a very good wide receiver in this league and Brooke Pryor recently reported that obviously Wilson will miss at least four weeks but Pittman is eligible to come up come back after the bye so about two weeks from now so if you do think that they are going to be healthy when they return and be you know serviceable it's another question and there's been a lot of links to other wide receivers as well we think Brian Thomas Jr. Chris Godwin at the end of the day, almost every wide receiver available has been linked to Pittsburgh and Godwin's an interesting name as well, but I think his cap, it's going to be too much. And I still think Brian Thomas Jr. is the most likely guy to head to the Steelers, but I would not hate if they get Josh Downs. So if the big names are too expensive or just not for sale, that's where Downs starts to look like a realistic one. He's going to be cheap. He's young and he's on a team right now that wants picks in the Colts. And it is clear that they are willing to make a move and trade away Josh Downs, let alone all their other players. Now, looking ahead to this week, obviously this upcoming game against the Browns is absolutely massive. The Browns and the Steelers are both five and two battling for the lead in the division. Now, technically Cleveland is ahead of the Steelers right now because of that loss in week four. So they have the tiebreaker, but I have a lot of faith in the Steelers this week. Now, the biggest story that came from yesterday's, I guess, practice was Jalen Warren. Mike McCarthy said that he's hot as a firecracker and that they want the ball in his hands. And we think back to Paris on Sunday morning, he went for 101 yards and obviously had an insane, insane game. Through seven games, he already has 855 yards from the line of scrimmage. And of course, Deshaun Elliott's back. He played in Paris on a play count. McCarthy said he cleared his first hurdle and expects more from him every week. So I can expect in the next few weeks, maybe after the bye week, he's back to 100%, which is interesting. Now, one other note transaction-wise, safety Rayshon Jenkins, who the Steelers recently released before the game on Sunday, he signed with Baltimore's practice squad. So it is something to note. A former Steeler is now in the Ravens building. There's two games against them still left to come, obviously. So that is something to keep an eye out on. So folks, what do you think about Josh Downs? Do you think that they should call at the end of the day here? It's going to be interesting, right? You got Marquez Valdez, Scantling, who they signed, and he's getting closer and closer to actually being ready to play on the field. You have a bunch of names that you could go after. I think Josh Downs makes sense. The one question mark is Bernard, right? Like he is handling that slot pretty good right now. But if they don't have full faith internally in him, I think Josh Downs especially given the price and how cheap he actually is would make a lot of sense I probably wouldn't give up one of the third round picks for him if it's like a fifth or a sixth which I don't know if the Colts are going to be able to you know accept that that's where it becomes interesting but comment down below do you think they should trade for Josh Downs or do you think and obviously they don't have to you can move them around you can move Jeremy Bernard around they can make things work but do you think they should go after a bigger wide receiver and by bigger i mean like a bigger name or do you guys like the idea Downs comment down below thank you guys for watching