Brandon Aiyuk. Davante Adams. Cooper Kupp. DeAndre Hopkins. Christian Kirk. Adam Thielen.
Name after name cycled through the rumor mill, some more exciting than others, as Steelers general manager Omar Khan searched far and wide to add a wide receiver to his team.
The Diontae Johnson trade back in March netted the Steelers a quality cornerback in Donte Jackson, but it left a glaring hole in the Steelers’ offense. The passing game suffered as Justin Fields took over to start the season, and even though Russell Wilson has found ways to get almost every receiver involved, Khan still needed to supplement what was one of the worst wide receiver rooms in the NFL.
When the addition finally came, it wasn’t the flashy name that many fans hoped for — the Steelers took on someone who was essentially banished from the New York Jets in Mike Williams.
When Williams was a free agent in the spring, he signed a one-year deal with the Jets, who were heading into 2024 with Super Bowl aspirations. With Aaron Rodgers returning for a do-over on his first year as Jets quarterback — after he sustained a season-ending Achilles injury just four snaps into last year — the guys in green were going all in.
Fast forward to November, and New York’s season has gone up in flames. Despite a healthy Rodgers and improved offense, the team has given away game after game and plummeted to a 3-7 record through 10 games this season.
Though Rodgers would never publicly admit that he had a hand in Williams’ ultimate departure, the writing was on the wall for the 30-year-old receiver when his slipup on a route cost the Jets a game. Back in Week 6, with the game on the line, Rodgers threw a deep ball intended for Williams, who ran the wrong route, slipped on the field and watched the ball land in the hands of Buffalo cornerback Taron Johnson, ultimately sealing a Jets loss.
Rodgers called out Williams after the game, saying he wasn’t in the right place on that play. The very next day, the Jets went out and acquired Davante Adams in a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders — a clear sign that Williams’ days in New York were numbered.
His numbers with the Jets were on pace to become the worst of his eight-year NFL career. Williams caught just 12 passes on 21 targets for 166 yards. His 13.8 yards per reception was the second-worst mark of his career, and Rodgers had a 43.1 passer rating when targeting Williams. He was ranked 108th out of 130 wide receivers by Pro Football Focus — if you still put any stock into them.
After the Buffalo incident, in his final three games as a Jet, Williams was targeted just four times and saw his snap counts reduced as New York continued to fall in the standings.
On Tuesday’s trade deadline, Khan granted Williams a ticket off that sinking ship when he made the deal to acquire him for a fifth-round pick.
Now that Williams is in Pittsburgh, he has new life — a chance to prove not only that he was not one of the litany of problems plaguing the Jets, but that it was actually Rodgers who was the problem for Williams, not the other way around.
The vast majority of his Steelers debut was ghostly quiet. He played just nine snaps on offense and didn’t even get a target until the dying minutes of the fourth quarter. But his first catch as a Steeler couldn’t have come at a better time.
Down 27-21 to the Commanders, the Steelers had one last drive to take the lead back and play for the win. After the previous drive ended in a fumble at the 1-yard line, Wilson led the offense back down the field, and on a third and nine play he threw a moon ball up to Wiliams, who tracked it down and caught it in the endzone for a 32-yard touchdown reception — his first of the year in his first game as a Steeler.
Williams’ catch stood as the difference maker as Pittsburgh narrowly escaped with a 28-27 win, improving to a 7-2 record.
It was an electric catch for Williams and the Steelers and a sign of the type of play he brings to the Pittsburgh offense. He made a name for himself in Los Angeles with the Chargers tracking down the deep ball and coming down with those catches. It’s how he racked up two 1,000+ yard seasons in LA and led the NFL with 20.4 yards per reception back in 2019.
That ability didn’t necessarily translate to Rodgers and the Jets in New York, but the Steelers have already found a way to unlock that trait in him once again.
The Steelers’ receiving core is still weak overall, but that plays to Williams’ advantage. Even if he isn’t the ultimate playmaker, there aren’t many appealing options behind him to go with the football, setting him up for a prime opportunity to leapfrog wide receivers Calvin Austin and Van Jefferson and become the go-to guy behind George Pickens.
Playing the hero in his Steelers debut and having another week to further acclimate into offensive coordinator Arthur Smith’s system will set him up with a prime opportunity for Wilson and the Steelers’ offense to utilize his talents in their game plan.
And for all of Williams’ struggles with the Jets this season, his past résumé is very appealing. Through his six years as a Charger, his 17-game receiving yards average is a healthy 928 yards. In 88 career games on the West Coast, he averaged 15.6 yards per reception and over 50 receiving yards per game.
He always had the talent. Now, he has a much-needed change of scenery and a chance to kick off the redemption arc of a lifetime.