Trade Deadline Day: Steelers Bargain-Hunt for a Receiver While the Bengals Wait on Sunday Night

Today is the day the talking stops. The NFL trade deadline hits at 4 p.m. ET this afternoon, and the Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2) go into it tied atop the AFC North, coming off their bye, with the biggest game of their season waiting on Sunday night in Cincinnati. The question hanging over everything is the same one that has followed this team since March: is the wide receiver room good enough, and will general manager Omar Khan do anything about it before the clock runs out? ## The bargain hunt The overnight reporting points in one direction: if the Steelers move at all, it will be cheap. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler said on "The Aftermath" that Pittsburgh has been looking for receiver help but "don't want to give up a lot of draft capital" — a late-round pick is the likely price range, with Tennessee's Calvin Ridley named as the fit. A fresh report this morning from 93.7 The Fan's Andrew Fillipponi, via Steelers Wire, says the Steelers have been making calls on three low-cost veterans: Ridley, Minnesota's Jauan Jennings, and Indianapolis' Keenan Allen. Start with Ridley, the name that keeps coming back. The 32-year-old former All-Pro has been an afterthought in Tennessee this year — six catches for 91 yards in seven games — and his career line (5,769 yards, 40 touchdowns in 97 games) is the reason teams keep calling. The complication is real, though: Ridley was involved in an incident at Nashville International Airport over the weekend that law enforcement got involved in, with details still scarce. A team that trades for him is buying the player and the question mark together. Jennings, who played for San Francisco from 2021 to 2025 before joining the Vikings in 2026 free agency, has 2,635 yards and 22 touchdowns in 81 games. Allen, 34, joined the Colts in August 2026 after stints with the Chargers and Bears; the route-running and veteran know-how are still there, even if the top-end speed is not. The bigger swings look harder to land. Indianapolis' Josh Downs — 228 catches for 2,470 yards and 12 touchdowns in 55 career games — reportedly has a third-round asking price, and the Steelers are said to have offered only a Day 3 pick, leaving Kansas City as a possible outbidder. There is also a pick problem: Pittsburgh does not have a 2027 fourth-round selection; it went to Dallas as part of the Broderick Jones trade. Jacksonville's Brian Thomas Jr. remains the classic buy-low name, and SI's Albert Breer and ESPN's Adam Schefter have both named Pittsburgh as a team actively looking. The Jets, per Tom Pelissero, have shut down calls about Garrett Wilson, and George Pickens is unlikely to move. ## Khan's track record is the worry Steelers fans have earned their skepticism here. At the 2024 deadline, a year after a pick-swap deal brought in Allen Robinson II, Khan traded with the Jets for an aging Mike Williams. In the 2025 offseason he traded a second-round pick for DK Metcalf and made him one of the highest-paid receivers in the league at the time — and Metcalf has struggled badly in the first half of this season. Then, in the 2026 offseason, came the trade for Michael Pittman Jr. That history is why the honest read on today is binary: either make a move big enough to change the offense, or stand pat and trust the room you have. Another patchwork veteran at a late-round price is the middle ground that has burned this team before. Head coach Mike McCarthy, speaking Monday, sounded like a man who has already made his peace with either outcome. He said he is not spending much time on the deadline, gave a public vote of confidence in Khan and team president Art Rooney II, and kept steering everything back to Sunday: "We've got a big time game, Sunday Night Football in Cincinnati. It's going to be a great atmosphere, and we've got a chance to sweep the Bengals." The Steelers re-activate today and Wednesday, McCarthy said, then get into a full week of Cincinnati prep — and he believes the team has improved since the first Bengals meeting. ## Two starters are "getting close" There was real news on the injury front Monday. McCarthy told reporters that Pittman Jr. and defensive tackle Derrick Harmon, both on injured reserve, are "getting close" to returning, though their status for Sunday remains uncertain. Pittman, acquired from Indianapolis in March 2026, re-aggravated a foot injury in Week 5 practice and went on injured reserve on October 10. Harmon, the 2025 first-round pick, had 12 combined tackles, 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble in the first four games before a foot injury in Week 4 put him on injured reserve on October 5. Both are eligible to be activated in time for Sunday. Roman Wilson is expected to miss the game, and the receiver room's health is exactly why the deadline matters. ## Sunday night decides first place — for now The Bengals (6-2) are not standing still either, even if they are not expected to be deadline buyers. Zac Taylor said Monday his team is "just focused on Pittsburgh right now," and Cincinnati is expected to stay relatively quiet today; around the division, Adam Schefter reports Baltimore is not expected to move Derrick Henry. Cincinnati comes in on a four-game winning streak, scoring at least 30 points in all four — the first time in the franchise's 59-season history it has done that. The 34-17 win over Atlanta in Madrid on Sunday tied the Bengals with Pittsburgh at 6-2. The Steelers won the first meeting 30-27 at Acrisure Stadium on September 27, and a win Sunday at Paycor Stadium (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC) would give them the season sweep and sole possession of first place. Pittsburgh has won three of its past four trips to Cincinnati and 15 of the last 21 meetings overall, but this is a different Bengals team than the one that left Pittsburgh in September — and a hostile Sunday night crowd is a different test than a 1 p.m. kickoff at home. One subplot worth watching from the broadcast booth: former Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, now in his first season as an NBC Sports analyst after stepping away this past offseason, previewed the game on Sunday night and put it bluntly — it comes down to Joe Burrow and the Bengals' passing game against T.J. Watt and Pittsburgh's four-man rush. "Bring your popcorn and get your cameras ready," Tomlin said. The other number to know: Jaylen Warren has gone over 100 yards in two of the past three meetings against Cincinnati. If the Steelers cannot add a receiver by 4 p.m., the run game and the pass rush may have to carry Sunday night. **Projection:** The deadline passes with, at most, a late-round bargain — Ridley is the name that fits the price Fowler described, if the airport incident does not scare Pittsburgh off. On Sunday, the sweep is there for the taking, but Cincinnati at home in primetime, on a four-game heater, is a different animal. Projection only: Steelers 27, Bengals 24 — with the caveat that if Burrow gets time, the four-man rush Tomlin flagged decides it the other way. ## Around Pittsburgh **Penguins:** The trip finale is Wednesday, November 11, at 10 p.m. ET in San Jose — and the Sharks are no longer on a losing streak. San Jose beat the Islanders 3-2 in a shootout Monday night, ending a five-game skid on rookie Ivar Stenberg's goal in the eighth round, with Yaroslav Askarov standing tall in net. The Sharks are now 8-11-1. The Penguins (6-10-2) still need the game: a win banks a trip split and stops the slide before Saturday's home game against Ottawa. **Pitt football:** The Panthers (6-3, 3-3 ACC) host Florida State (4-5, 2-4 ACC) on Friday, November 13, at 7 p.m. ET at Acrisure Stadium on ESPN — Senior Night, coming off the bye, with the starting quarterback still unnamed after Mason Heintschel's season-ending injury in early October.