Mike McCarthy isn’t spending much time staring at the NFL trade deadline calendar.
With the Steelers coming out of their Week 9 bye and preparing for a Sunday Night Football matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 10, McCarthy made it clear that his attention is on the roster already in the building, not on the clock ticking toward the deadline.
“I spent a decade in my life as a head coach, I didn’t know when the hell the trade deadline was. I just knew it was somewhere around the middle of the season,” McCarthy said.
Asked whether aggressive moves from other contenders, including the Jacksonville Jaguars, might push Pittsburgh to act, McCarthy pointed back to the people running the front office and the group already on hand.
“I get it, everybody wants to improve their roster, and I have great confidence in [general manager] Omar [Khan] and [owner] Art [Rooney II] if there’s something there, we’ll do the right thing,” McCarthy said. “But I think it’s very important for me as the head coach to keep my eye on the target, and that’s the 68-plus [players] that are in the building.
So if we add someone that’s gonna help us win, everybody would be for that... The most important thing is, I’ve always done this, I worry about the ones that are here.
Coach the ones that are here and keep building what we got going. We have a lot of positive energy going right now, and we got a big-time game, Sunday Night Football in Cincinnati.”
Even with McCarthy keeping his focus internal, the trade buzz around Pittsburgh has stayed centered on wide receiver help. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler said on “The Aftermath” that the Steelers “doesn’t want to give up a lot of draft capital” for a receiver, and he floated Tennessee Titans veteran Calvin Ridley as someone who might “make sense in that regard.”
Other names have been tied to Pittsburgh in recent weeks, including Josh Downs of the Indianapolis Colts and Brian Thomas Jr. of the Jacksonville Jaguars. If the Steelers aren’t willing to pay a premium for that level of player, the options could narrow to a lower-cost move, with Ridley or Jauan Jennings of the Minnesota Vikings as possibilities in exchange for a late Day 3 pick.
Cornerback is another spot worth watching, but that market has been quiet lately. For now, the Steelers’ clearest priority appears to be adding a receiver rather than making a move for secondary help.
In Other News...
Browns Wild-Card Margin Just Got Even Smaller
Week 9 brought another reminder that the AFC playoff picture is tightening around the Steelers corner of the bracket, with Cleveland getting a major boost from Myles Garretts return and three-sack outing. Around the league, the results kept the contenders sorted into familiar tiers, as teams like the Bills, Broncos, Jaguars and 49ers continued to strengthen their postseason position with wins and manageable upcoming schedules.
For Pittsburgh, the bigger takeaway is how little room remains for the Browns to slip in the wild-card race. Every week now feels like a shuffle of margins rather than a reset, and with Cleveland hanging around and other AFC teams stacking wins, the Steelers are watching a race where one result can change the math quickly. [Read more 🡒]
Steelers May Already Be Winning The Joey Porter Jr. Trade
Joey Porter Jr.s first season in Dallas has been a reminder that even a big-name trade can come with plenty of baggage. The Cowboys paid significant draft capital to land the cornerback from Pittsburgh, but Porter has been in and out of the lineup and has not been able to carve out a consistent role when he is active, leaving the deal under a brighter spotlight than Dallas likely expected.
From the Steelers side, the early returns look a lot cleaner. Pittsburgh moved Porter and got future draft picks back, while Dallas is still waiting to see whether the trade will pay off before Porter reaches unrestricted free agency after the season. For now, the balance of value appears to be tilting toward the team that was willing to move on. [Read more 🡒]
Steelers Head To Cincinnati With First Place Suddenly On The Line
A trip to Cincinnati suddenly comes with a lot more than the usual AFC North edge. Pittsburgh and the Bengals both arrive at 6-2, both riding four-game winning streaks, and the winner will leave Week 10 in a far better spot in the race for first place. For a Steelers team that has spent the last month building momentum, this is the kind of matchup that can sharpen a seasons direction in a hurry.
The division picture got even more interesting elsewhere, with Baltimore making a major quarterback change after placing Lamar Jackson on injured reserve and turning to Jacoby Brissett. For Pittsburgh, that only adds to the sense that the next stretch can reshape the standings quickly, especially with the Steelers still trying to protect their own place at the top. Off the field, the organization also had a scare involving legend Jack Ham, who was hospitalized but reported to be alert while undergoing tests. [Read more 🡒]