The Jig Is Up: Steelers Offseason, Vol. 16, Trade Winner?
Recently I was thinking about my time writing about the Pittsburgh Steelers. Throughout my career doing so, I’ve essentially done it all.
Commentary, news, breaking stories, features and even took a stab at simple film room breakdowns.
The one thing I’ve never done is work on just a random thought type format.
I can’t speak for you, the reader, but I am always thinking about writing and the Steelers. Thinking about different aspects of the team and game. Thanks to reading Myron Cope’s biography I decided to put a unique spin on this type of feature.
Now, for the name of the article, anyone who is familiar with the Styx song “Renegade” should know where it came from. If not, this is where it came from…
The jig is up, the news is out
They finally found me
The renegade who had it made
Retrieved for a bounty
Nevermore to go astray
This’ll be the end today of the wanted man
The jig is up…time for some randomness.
What to watch for during Rookie Minicamp
Today, Friday, starts the Steelers Rookie Minicamp. While some might see this as nothing other than football in shorts, I strongly disagree. And I’m not about to suggest getting to see these new Steelers in their new colors is something to watch. Here are 5 things to keep an eye on throughout the weekend:
Attendance
Does everyone show up? Early photos seem to show all drafted players are already in the house, but with Derrick Harmon still likely dealing with the loss of his mother, you would understand if the rookie might have been late to the workouts.
Participation (Injuries)
Speaking of Harmon, when you get some video of individual work, is he able to do all the drills? Let’s remember Harmon was found to have a partially torn rotator cuff, so if he is capable of doing all the drills it is a good sign.
Does Tomlin speak?
Okay, this might not have anything to do with the rookies, but after the George Pickens trade I am curious how often Mike Tomlin will be fielding questions this weekend.
What rookie invites will earn a deal
Every year there are rookies who earn themselves a spot on the 90-man roster. Will there be a Devlin “Duck” Hodges out of this 2025 crop of rookie camp invitees?
UDFAs showing out
The Steelers will give everyone a shot to make the team, and that includes undrafted players. When you think about players like Mike Hilton, Jaylen Warren, and Beanie Bishop, they all earned themselves roles on the team without being drafted. Their chance to “show out” starts today at rookie camp.
No winner in the Pickens trade
I might be in the minority here, but I believe there can be situations where there are no clear-cut winners in an NFL trade. A great example of this was the George Pickens-to-Dallas trade.
Think about it…
The Steelers clearly wanted to get rid of the talented, yet sometimes troubled, wide receiver who was entering the final year of his rookie contract.
They get a 2026 Day 2 pick for him. Mission Accomplished.
The Cowboys wanted a dynamic wide receiver opposite CeeDee Lamb, and they didn’t care about compensating the receiver right away. If they had to part ways with a future Day 2 pick, so be it.
Mission Accomplished.
I believe both sides got what they would consider a “win”, and it also serves as a reminder how the Chase Claypool 2nd Round pick trade with the Chicago Bears was possibly one of the most lop-sided wide receiver trades in recent memory.
Hines Wards don’t grow on trees
The trade for George Pickens has people, like former colleague Michael Beck, longing for more Hines Ward-type receivers.
What the Steelers really need is the next Hines Ward. Consistent, never takes plays off, and high character at receiver.
— Michael Beck (@MichaelBeck56) May 8, 2025
I don’t blame him, but I made it a point to let him know those type of players are very rare in today’s NFL. People talked about Emeka Egbuka being in the 2025 NFL Draft, and my response to that is he is a rare type of wide receiver. I also would like to remind fans the Steelers actually did draft a Hines Ward-type wide receiver in 2024, we just didn’t get to watch him play. That would be none other than Roman Wilson.
Many have soured on Wilson after his injury-plagued rookie season, starting with an ankle injury and ending with a hamstring injury, but he is a player who leads the right way and plays with a lot of heart. He’s a willing blocker and doesn’t care who gets the credit. He is known as a hard nosed player who isn’t afraid of anyone.
Sound familiar? Keep an eye on Roman Wilson this season…
Steelers vs. Vikings/Packers in Ireland?
There have been two rumors swirling around the Steelers opponent when they play their game in Dublin this season. Both are NFC North teams, and it could be between the Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers. I honestly don’t care who the Steelers play, while I do have some bad flashbacks of 2013 when the Steelers lost to the Vikings in London, but some of the rumors based on Aaron Rodgers are actually funny.
Some suggest Rodgers is waiting out the NFL schedule makers to see how many prime time games they’ll have. Others are having the Steelers telling Rodgers to wait till after the schedule so they might get less prime time games.
That’s neither here or there, but the International Series will be announced Tuesday, and my prediction is it will be Packers vs. Steelers in Week 4 of 2025.
Are the Steelers In for 2025?
The other day I was skimming Twitter and saw this video by NFL Network’s Kyle Brandt, who typically puts out great videos/takes about the Steelers, and this video after the George Pickens trade didn’t disappoint.
Take a look:
Still IN on the Steelers.
Confused. But IN. pic.twitter.com/w1tJGQgfEv
— Kyle Brandt (@KyleBrandt) May 7, 2025
I feel the same way about the Steelers and being IN, but I do find myself wondering if the plan they are executing is the right plan. We’ve known they have a plan, but the next logical question was whether or not it was the right plan. We’ll know for sure soon enough.
Filling the George Pickens vacancy
The Steelers now find themselves in a similar situation with their wide receive room as to 2024. Most fans are assuming, or hoping, the team will be adding a wide receiver in some capacity. But the question is how they will add that receiver?
- Current Roster
- Free Agency
- Trade
After last season, I’ll say I won’t be putting any actual faith in the team to execute a trade. Will they try? I’m sure they will, but as we learned last year, it doesn’t mean it will happen. If I had to guess, they’ll either stick with the current roster, or go into the season with the receivers they have.
Do I love that idea? No, but I’m just being a realist.
Player Spotlight
I wanted to start doing a spotlight segment every week during the offseason of a lesser known player who donned the black-and-gold for a time.
This week’s player: Baron Batch
Batch was selected in the 7th Round of the 2011 NFL Draft and was figured to be in competition to replace Mewelde Moore as the third-down back, given his receiving and blocking experience in Mike Leach’s Air Raid offense at Texas Tech. However, Batch tore his ACL during a training camp practice on August 11, 2011 and was out for the season.
In 2012 Baron ran for 22 yards on 10 attempts against the Tennessee Titans. This was his first game with more than 5 rushing attempts in the NFL. He was released by the Pittsburgh Steelers on November 20 that year in order to make a necessary roster move, but picked back up to be on the practice squad the next day. A week later, he was re-signed to the 53-man roster.
On August 25, 2013, he was cut by the Steelers and retired from football.
Batch is an artist based out of Pittsburgh, PA where he is creative director of the event space, art gallery and creative agency, Studio AM, where he and other creatives collaborate. Batch self-describes his art as POP-X genre of art, a mix of Pop Art and Expressionism reminiscent of street-art styles developed in the 70’s and 80’s.
Batch was described as a “Creative Force” in Whirl magazine, and has labeled himself “The Artist”. His artwork is a major staple of the Pittsburgh Yoga scene.
Check out the latest “Let’s Ride” podcast in the player below:
That does it…the jig is up, they’ve finally found me. This renegade is outta here…be sure to stay tuned to SCN for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for the rest of offseason leading up to training camp.
Okay, Jeff. Regarding GP trade, “If ifs and ands were pots and pans, t’would cure the tinker’s care”, applies. Winner to be revealed later, with nuance. Regarding Roman, if he becomes 75% of Hines, I’d be grateful. Steelers vs. Packers in Dublin, please, NFL. There seems to be, say, some unfortunate steps, or maybe punts, in Pgh’s plan. Please note that I’m not highly compensated. Last, trading aside, while I prefer Cooper to Allen (unlike Coach) aside, if the home team fails to reasonably replace Pickens, my remaining hair wil be lost.
Cowboys may prove to win or lose the Pickens trade, but for the Steelers I think it had become a have-to, putting a toxic relationship out of its misery. I said more than once last season that he played and acted a lot more like a Cowboy or a Bengal than a Steeler; the Bengals didn’t need a receiver, so there you have it. Nothing to celebrate, it just needed to be over.
Mostly agreed, Ernie. I hope GP doesn’t end up like most Bengals or Cowboys. And that remains squarely on GP, himself, as it always has. It’s done.
Also, I’ve wished for years that Hines Ward was on the coaching staff here.
I think Azzanni does much of what Ward would do with the Steelers, without anything as proof for my belief. Hines was also dealt dirty by the San Antonio XFL team. ASU’s lucky to have him now.