Steelers' financial offer to Brandon Aiyuk reported; Arthur Smith discusses team's WR position

Albert Breer of SI.com has the Pittsburgh Steelers’ contract offer to San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk.

“The Steelers’ offer was around (the) $28 million per year that several other receivers (DeVonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle, Amon-Ra St. Brown) got this offseason,” Breer reported Monday.

Keep in mind that Aiyuk is currently under contract for the 2024 season with the 49ers for $14.1 million on the fifth-year option of his entry-level deal. Should the Steelers get Aiyuk to agree to a palatable contract extension, they’ll also have to work out a compensation package for the Niners so that they’d be willing to let the second-team All-Pro leave San Francisco.

“They’re stable, with a Super Bowl-winning head coach, but haven’t won at the level the Niners have of late, and don’t have geographic appeal, either,” Breer said of the Steelers.

Fair enough. But Aiyuk has suggested that he’d be interested in playing for Mike Tomlin in Pittsburgh. And whatever geographic shortcomings the Steelers may have when it comes to tempting the native of Reno, Nevada, the other two teams apparently interested in offering him similar money to leave San Francisco are both in the northeastern part of the country. One is the Cleveland Browns. The other is the New England Patriots.

“The Patriots offered a deal in excess of $30 million per year. New England also has a rookie head coach, rookie quarterback, and sits on the other side of the country from where Aiyuk grew up, went to college (Arizona State), and has played as a pro,” Breer continued. “So San Francisco, which last moved in the contract negotiation back in May, is in position to strike a deal with a guy they’d like to pair over the long-term with Purdy, George Kittle in his 30s, and the football odometer starting to run high on the bodies of Christian McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel. Things have gotten quiet the past couple of days, an indication that the Niners have finally moved off the spot they occupied in May.”

In June, it was reported that the Niners had offered between $26 million to $28 million per year annually to extend Aiyuk’s contract.

Given the never-ending rumors about the Steelers’ interest in the receiver, on Monday I asked offensive coordinator Arthur Smith if he thought his unit had enough firepower at the wide receiver position as currently constructed.

“All I’m worried about is who I have,” Smith said. “Everybody would love to have the perfect roster, but that just doesn’t exist. So you just deal with what the reality is. Whoever they bring in here, it’s our job — my job, more importantly — to worry about the guys who are here and put them in the best spots.”

One spot where the Steelers are far from perfect is at wide receiver.

Van Jefferson may be a quality No. 3 receiver. But he isn’t a No. 2. And he certainly isn’t a No. 1 if George Pickens gets hurt. Aiyuk would be a good fit in that regard.

Yet, some Steelers fans and media types don’t want Aiyuk at that price. They push back on the idea of trading for him by insisting that Smith’s offense doesn’t require much out of a second wide receiver.

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If that’s the case, then that’s a significant flaw in Smith’s structure.

Perhaps being too archaic to implement a second receiver’s skills by way of deferring to multiple tight ends and running backs is part of the reason why Smith was 7-10 as a head coach and play-caller in Atlanta each of the past three years.

During those seasons, these are the receivers with the second-best output on the team.

2023 — Mack Hollins: 18 catches/251 yards/no touchdowns

2022 — Olamide Zaccheus: 40 catches/533 yards/ three touchdowns

2021 — Zaccheus: 31 catches/406 yards/three touchdowns

However, in 2020, when he was the offensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans, Smith got 65 receptions, 984 yards and five touchdowns out of Corey Davis while A.J. Brown was making the Pro Bowl at the other receiver spot with a 1,075-yard season.

Maybe it’s a “chicken-or-the-egg” argument. Does Smith’s offense reduce the chances for second receivers, or has he just built his offense around throwing the ball to tight ends and running backs more often because he has been lacking wide receiver depth in his two previous stops?

“Every year is different,” Smith said to that question. “If you feel like you have a strong group, there may be weeks you may be short two guys, so you’re trying to get the best personnel group, and a lot of it is matchup based. … Any amount of great players, it is our job to figure it out. You just have to have a contingency plan.”

To that last point, I have no idea what the contingency plan is if Pickens gets hurt.

But Aiyuk sure would be a good one.