PHOENIX — The Pittsburgh Steelers are going big when it comes to reshaping their wide receivers corps.
Literally and figuratively.
Two-plus months into the tenure of new coach Mike McCarthy and with four weeks of free agency behind them, the Steelers have moved on from three of the top four and four of the top six from the receiver depth chart that ended last season. The intention to infuse more to the position in the draft could not be more obvious, and after a 2025 season in which no one effectively seized a role as the go-to No. 2 wide receiver, the one significant receiver move the Steelers have made so far this spring was the addition of Michael Pittman Jr.
Not only is Pittman — who has averaged 81 catches over his six pro seasons — a legit WR2, he’s one that stands 6-foot-4. That matches the height of DK Metcalf, the Steelers’ returning WR1.
“I prefer the bigger targets,” McCarthy said during the NFL owners meetings last week. “I think it’s common sense.
“There are common-sense practices that I keep in touch with: bigger receivers, outdoor climate, the ability to be nasty on first and second down in a run game. … (League wide), big-play numbers are down. So that’s something, as a coach, you’re always looking to try to enhance your big-play opportunities on first and second down and that obviously comes off of the run game. And bigger receivers definitely help in that area.”
Receivers Calvin Austin III, Adam Thielan, Marques Valdez-Scantling and Scotty Miller were not retained after each had been a part of the offense over the final six games (including playoffs) of this past Steelers season. Metcalf is joined only by Ben Skowronek and Roman Wilson as holdovers from 2025 who remain on the roster as 2026 organized team activities get underway.
Skowronek is a lock for the roster — but moreso because of his special-teams proficiency. He’s not expected to fill any more than a fringe role in the offense. And with all due respect to the receivers signed to reserve/future contracts in January (Brandon Smith, John Rhys Plumlee, A.T. Perry, Cole Burgess), as things stand now — before the draft — the only viable candidate for the Steelers WR3 job is Roman Wilson.
Wilson, a 2024 third-round pick, has been a healthy scratch for as many games as he has career catches (12 each) over two NFL seasons.
Still, McCarthy isn’t ready to publicly write him off.
“I like Roman,” McCarthy said during an afternoon chat with Pittsburgh-based reporters from the Arizona Biltmore resort last week. “I had a really great conversation with him the other day. And really, from what you hear about him around the building, just looking forward to working with him.
“He’s a young man that (under) new systems and has a fresh start, (and) I’m hoping he’s one of those guys that will benefit from it. I was impressed with just talking football with him. There’s a lot of people that have a lot of love for him in the building.”
According to Pro Football Focus data, 207 of the 258 offensive snaps Wilson has played in his NFL career have come while lined up as an outside receiver. This comes after he was primarily a slot receiver during his final two seasons at Michigan, including 2023 as the leading receiver for the College Football Playoff champions.
The 5-10 Wilson offers a different body type than the longer Metcalf and Pittman, but McCarthy isn’t letting that compel him into pigeon-holing any of his receivers into certain spots on the field.
Size and skillset also, McCarthy says, factor heavily into the evaluations of receivers the Steelers will take in the draft later this month.
“I don’t like to play, ‘This guy’s an ‘X,’ this guy’s a ‘Z,’ this guy’s an ‘F,’” McCarthy said, referencing the widely-used labels for the traditional WR roles of split end, flanker and slot.”
Pittman over the past three seasons for the Indianapolis Colts served almost exclusively as a slot receiver, but over his first three pro seasons that preceded he was far more often lining up on the outside.
It’s clear that whoever the Steelers draft at wide receiver — and there is significant reason to believe they intend to do so with a premium pick — he will help shape the division of labor at the position for 2026.
“I’ve always looked for diversity (of skillset) in a receiver,” McCarthy said. “I like receivers that can play all three spots, because I want to move the receivers around. And so the quarterback has the same read. I don’t want to move and have everybody play (one particular, fixed) spot.”