The Pittsburgh Steelers are putting all their eggs in the Aaron Rodgers basket, at least for the 2025 NFL season. As a result, the team may not be done shuffling its lineup around the future Hall of Fame quarterback. Rumor has it the Steelers front office is still searching for added offensive weaponry, weeks after reports first emerged regarding their interest in veteran tight ends Kyle Pitts and Jonnu Smith, both of whom are available via trade.
Even before Rodgers put pen to paper on a one-year deal in Pittsburgh, many were quick to connect the Steelers to New York Jets wide receiver Allen Lazard, a longtime Rodgers companion who followed the quarterback from the Green Bay Packers to East Rutherford, New Jersey. Besides Lazard and the aforementioned tight ends, which other notable names might be on the Steelers’ radar? Which veterans could Pittsburgh feasibly acquire, with nearly $32 million in remaining 2025 salary cap space, even after this offseason’s trade for wideout DK Metcalf?
Here are five other potential targets that might help Rodgers’ offense as he prepares for his Pittsburgh debut:
Watson may well be the most gifted player in the Packers’ wide receiver room, but there’s a reason Green Bay spent two early draft picks at the position this April; the 26-year-old veteran has missed multiple games due to injury in each of his first three NFL seasons, giving the Pack a true boom-or-bust experience on the perimeter. With both Matthew Golden and Savion Williams in line for significant roles as rookies, might the Packers be willing to sell Watson as he recovers from an ACL tear? Rodgers might have to wait until later in 2025 to reunite with the speedster as a result, but the potential for late-season fireworks might make the gamble worthwhile.
Unlike Watson, Doubs is available to suit up right now, and though he’s taken turns in the spotlight as part of Green Bay’s crowded wide receiver room, his long-term future in Green Bay is also in question, not only because of 2025’s draft class but because of his previous discontentment over opportunities in Matt LaFleur’s offense. Doubs was a teammate of Rodgers as a rookie in 2022, and he’d make for a reasonably well-rounded complement to DK Metcalf in Pittsburgh, provided the Packers are willing to part with him as a proven secondary outlet.
Age is not necessarily on Allen’s side anymore; the longtime Los Angeles Chargers star is 33 and hasn’t played a full NFL season in more than a half-decade. That shouldn’t necessarily hold the Steelers up from courting him as an unsigned free agent, given their commitment to a 41-year-old Rodgers. Yes, Allen looked a step slow in his lone season with the Chicago Bears to start 2024, but he was a favorite target of Caleb Williams later on, and his expertise is quarterback-friendly route-running. He could make for a plug-and-play possession target.
Aaron Rodgers to Steelers creates this rare pairing that the NFL hasn’t seen in 32 years
John Breech
Gone are the days of Agholor warranting a starting gig at the NFL level; he may have hit his peak as a surprise Super Bowl standout with the Philadelphia Eagles back in 2017, when he shed the label of first-round bust to carve out a solid, if unspectacular, career as a secondary option. Still, he’s shown flash as a downfield threat in multiple stops and systems, and his versatility lining up both inside and outside might be of value. At 32, still unsigned after a full offseason in free agency, he’d represent more of a low-risk, mild-reward bet.
The Bears all but proclaimed a new face of their tight end position by spending a first-round pick on Colston Loveland this year, and while Kmet still has the benefit of legitimate NFL experience, it’s very possible new coach Ben Johnson will lean all the way into Loveland out of the gate. In that case, perhaps the Steelers would be interested in pairing Kmet with Pat Freiermuth, especially if the price is lower than, say, acquiring Kyle Pitts from the Atlanta Falcons. Kmet logged at least 50 catches in three straight seasons from 2021-2023.
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Author: Cody Benjamin
June 9, 2025 | 4:30 pm
