Mark Madden's Hot Take: Dream of Steelers getting Brandon Aiyuk is silly

As Pittsburgh Steelers fans try to hope their team into being better than the current roster dictates, one piece of wishful thinking just won’t go away: that the Steelers trade for wideout Brandon Aiyuk of the San Francisco 49ers.

Aiyuk has the option year remaining on his rookie contract and is due $14.124 million in 2024.

Trading for Aiyuk wouldn’t be about what the Steelers give up. It would be about what the Steelers have to pay Aiyuk to extend him.

That bar was set by Jaylen Waddle, Miami’s No. 2 wideout behind Tyreek Hill. Waddle just signed a three-year extension worth $84.75 million, with $76 million of that guaranteed.

It’s not bad to spend money on the passing game, or on defending the pass. The Steelers lag behind in that regard.

The Steelers rarely give a second contract to wideouts: Hines Ward, Antonio Brown and Diontae Johnson being exceptions since modern free agency hit the NFL in 1993. Trading for and signing Aiyuk would be an expensive equivalency.

It’s hard to imagine the Steelers paying what it would take to sign Aiyuk.

It’s also difficult to imagine the Steelers going into the season with their current receiving corps. They have the NFL’s worst pass-catchers.

But here’s the fly in the ointment: Why would Aiyuk want to come to Pittsburgh and sign a long-term deal?

The Steelers aren’t close to winning a Super Bowl, not even with Aiyuk. Probably not a playoff game, either.

Aiyuk’s stats in Pittsburgh would disintegrate: He’d be joining a run-first offense quarterbacked by a past-his-prime Russell Wilson, maybe Justin Fields at some point. Not exactly high-tech like San Francisco, not exactly Brock Purdy.

The Steelers haven’t won a playoff game in seven years. They’re not a destination franchise, especially not now for receivers.

The only way Aiyuk would want to come here is if he buys into the Mike Tomlin myth.

Aiyuk might. He’s Tomlin’s doppelganger.