The Pittsburgh Steelers just picked up Michael Pittman Jr. from Indianapolis in a trade that reportedly involved nothing but late-round draft choices. Then the franchise gave him a three-year, $59 million contract.
A year ago, Pittman caught 80 passes, including seven touchdowns. However, he only averaged 9.8 yards per reception, for 784 yards. Two years ago, he had 1,152 yards via 119 catches and four scores.
Kevin Bowen joined me on Tuesday’s “Breakfast With Benz” podcast. He works for 107.5 The Fan in Indianapolis. We spoke for a long time about the former Colts receiver.
• What sort of player are the Steelers getting?: “He is a tough, hard-(nosed) wide receiver. There’s no USC pretty boy in him, even though he is a USC product. You can very clearly see that his dad was a 10-year veteran in the NFL playing running back.”
Bowen went so far as to say that people often claim that they get “Hines Ward vibes” watching Pittman play.
I don’t know how he caught this pic.twitter.com/fw3OrQdFOt
— Coach Dan Casey (@CoachDanCasey) October 26, 2025
“His physicality and his blocking prowess (are some) of his strengths. A methodical power wideout. The Colts got a lot of easy completions to him and let him try to break tackles with his physicality. He’s not going to be some game-breaker with his speed. The Colts didn’t utilize him that much as a vertical threat. … I thought, ideally, the Colts would be able to restructure and keep him. I don’t think this is some aging dude walking up the 18th hole by any means.”
• Some of his numbers dipped last year. Why?: “It was a bit of a down year for him, especially because he battled a back injury two years ago pretty significantly. He plays through a ton of stuff,” Bowen said. “Daniel Jones gave this team some pretty good quarterback play early in the season. Yet Pittman didn’t really tap into that. Tyler Warren’s arrival took some targets away. Alec Pierce’s ascent certainly contributed to that as well. There are maybe a couple more drops that started to rise up. I can think of a couple, particularly late in the season. That was a bit uncharacteristic for a guy like him.”
• Describe his style of play: “You kind of feel his presence. Death by 1,000 paper cuts. He’s not necessarily going to be an eye-popping target for a 55-yard type of guy. It’s more of the seven (catches) for 80 (yards) sort of afternoon,” Bowen said.
“If you want to use the baseball analogy, (he’s) probably more of a singles and doubles hitter versus more of a home run hitter. A really durable, solid, consistent wideout. He never really ascended to the true No. 1 but was a really quality wideout here for (six) years.”
• Why were the Colts so willing to let Pittman go for just a low-round pick swap?: “I’d say this year may have been a little bit of a down year for him. It was kind of expected here in Indianapolis — $29 million given their cap situation, they just couldn’t afford that with re-signing Pierce ($60 million guaranteed),” Bowen said.
“He is not a great separator. I think that is something that you’re going to have to live with from him. When I watched him at USC, I saw a little bit more of a 50-50, climb-the-ladder guy at times. The Colts really never tapped into that with him. It was more of a tight end playing wideout at times.”
• Can Pittman play outside, while also being a ‘power-slot’ type?: “I think Pittman will be more than happy to do the hard-nosed dirty work stuff. Whether that is as a bigger slot … I mean, you could watch 100 cut-ups of the Colts just throwing quick hitters to him. Little screens, extensions of the run game where he takes a 1-yard completion in the air, and he breaks a tackle or two and turns it into 7 or 8,” Bowen described. “It’s nothing that’s going to lead SportsCenter. It is just nice, methodical, staying ahead of the chains. I’ve seen (Aaron Rodgers) throw that a million times. That is where, I think, he will kind of fit.”
• From the standpoint of demeanor and personality, what’s he like?: “I’ve always been a pretty big advocate of him, and think that he’s a really solid wideout,” Bowen said. “He brings a level of tenacity and physicality to the receiver position. I think he’ll be very accepting of being a consummate pro. I don’t think you’ll get diva wideout from him at all. He will 1,000% understand the situation.”
• Did he ever punch a fan?: “He did not punch a fan.”
That’s all I needed to hear. Sold.