Steelers easiest Brandon Aiyuk backup plan comes with a lot of controversy

There's a lot to unpack with the Pittsburgh Steelers and their current offseason situation.

They have long been the favorites to land star wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk from the San Fransisco 49ers, if he is traded. In fact, they seem to really be the only place that Aiyuk could be dealt if he is to leave San Fransisco.

But the issue that the Steelers are continuing to run into is that the Niners just don't want to deal him. They're trying again and again to extend him rather than shipping him off to Pittsburgh.

This leaves Pittsburgh with a depleted room of pass catchers as the season draws closer and closer. It's something they desperately need to address.

Easiest Steelers WR target may not be the ideal option

When looking at the options for the Steelers, there's obviously Aiyuk. That's the ideal target. Then, there's a fantasy land target like CeeDee Lamb of the Dallas Cowboys. Lamb has become disgruntled with his contract and is holding out in hopes of an extension. If the Cowboys lose patience with him, they could be forced to move him. Not likely and much more expensive to trade for than Aiyuk.

Then we land on a safe, easy target that would improve the Steelers wide receiver room very quickly. That option is the recently released wideout, JuJu Smith-Schuster from the New England Patriots.

The Steelers and Smith-Schuster parted ways a few seasons back, and there were a couple of reasons why.

JuJu Smith-Schuster isn't a good fit on this Steelers team

The whole situation wasn't very problematic at the time. Steelers fans were understanding of JuJu and his career. Pittsburgh is notorious for drafting and developing pass catchers anyway.

Smith-Schuster struggled to get along with some of the media in Pittsburgh, namely Mark Madden, who routinely made him the punching bag for any Steelers defeat. JuJu was also very active on social media, notably TikTok at its outset, which didn't mesh with much of the Pittsburgh fanbase. He even created videos dancing on the opposing team's logo prior to road games.

However, none of these are viable reasons not to bring back Smith-Schuster. His injury history and downturn in production is.

JuJu hasn't been great recently. There's a reason that he was released. He hasn't been reliable as of late and his speed and change of direction have taken big hits over the years.

The wide receiver has already shown his hand, and left Pittsburgh for a reason. The Steelers may not want to re-sign him years later because of it.