A Steelers-Raiders trade to go for broke with Russell Wilson-Justin Fields combo

Here is one trade that will surely get the Pittsburgh Steelers far beyond the 9-to-11-win range head coach Mike Tomlin seems to find great comfort in. In Gary Davenport's one player each NFL team should consider trading article for Bleacher Report, he decided to put Davante Adams on the block for the Las Vegas Raiders. One team that could use a bona-fide No. 1 wide receiver is Pittsburgh.

Where things stand now, there might only be three games separating the Steelers from the Raiders in the AFC standings. I suspect the Silver and Black could be a .500 team this year, whereas the Steelers will finish slightly above that because that is just what they do under Tomlin. However, taking away the Raiders' highest-paid player and putting him onto the Steelers could change the paradigm.

This is what going for broke looks like. Here is roughly what it would take to make it work financially.

Adams carries $28 million in APY for 2024. The Steelers would need to give up a boatload of picks to make the dollars and cents make sense. So goodbye first-round pick next year and the year after that. A fourth-round pick in 2025, a seventh-round pick coming over from the Falcons and a second-round pick in 2026 is just enough draft capital to be within $20,000 of making this a fair trade or so.

Let's discuss if the Steelers should go for broke and if this is the missing piece for their offense.

How Pittsburgh Steelers trade for Las Vegas Raiders WR Davante Adams

From a purely impulsive standpoint, sure, why not? Yeah, let's make a deal! The idea of adding Adams to the Steelers' receiving corps changes the temperature of the room. For as much fanfare as there has been with Russell Wilson coming over in free agency and Justin Fields coming over by way of a trade, the Steelers are still going to be very much a defensive-minded team. Adding Adams changes that.

To me, until we get definitive proof that either Wilson or Fields is going to be the guy and not some combination of the two, I can't get behind a trade of this magnitude. Remember that Adams wanted to be traded to the Raiders for two reasons. This was his favorite team from childhood, and the fact that his close friend from college Derek Carr was the Raiders quarterback. My, how things have changed...

What trading for Adams would signify is that the Steelers view themselves as Super Bowl contenders. Let's start by winning a playoff game first. For as fun as it would be to have him be a vibrant part of the Pittsburgh offense, keep in mind who now coordinates it. Look forward to Adams blocking for a fullback on an end-around for a six-yard gain on top of only getting four balls thrown his way all game.

While there is a way to make this trade a reality, there is so much going against Pittsburgh in all of this.