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Pittsburgh Steelers owner and president Art Rooney II called for upgrades at wide receiver.

Pittsburgh Steelers owner and president Art Rooney II addressed the media on January 27, and the quotes continued to trickle in on January 28.

Two of them — per veteran beat reporter Mark Kaboly — offered very candid assessments of the wide receiver room.

Rooney admitted; “I think we have positions in the wide receiver room we’re going to have to address” and “I think the wide receiver room is an area we’ve got to look at improving,” according to Kaboly.

It’s no secret that the Steelers’ WR unit wasn’t good enough in 2024. Although head coach Mike Tomlin backed the group publicly on several occasions, that was mostly for show as Pittsburgh checked in on the trade market early and often throughout the year.

Unfortunately, despite showing interest in talented pass-catchers like Brandon Aiyuk, Christian Kirk and perhaps even Cooper Kupp, the right move never materialized. And it didn’t help that rookie Roman Wilson had zero impact during his first NFL campaign.

Having said that, Rooney’s January declaration all but assures a wide receiver addition or two in free agency or the draft.

“Rooney tends to deliver the message in more of a reserved manner, yet the message is undeniable every single year,” Kaboly reminded on the evening of January 27.

Continuing: “Last year it was putting former first-round pick Kenny Pickett on notice after a poor second season being somewhat critical of the former 20th overall pick. Within two months, Pickett was traded.”

Perhaps, Rooney’s admission will spark a similar sense of urgency at wide receiver.

Steelers’ Art Rooney II Doesn’t Seem to Want to Give Up on WR George Pickens — Yet

While speaking with reporters, Rooney also fielded a question on star wideout George Pickens — who has been the subject of trade speculation since the start of the Steelers’ offseason. Kaboly relayed his response, which read:

“I think every team seems to have one or two guys in that room [where] you have to manage them correctly. I still think George [Pickens] has enough talent that we’ve got to try to work and see if we can get him to fulfill the talent that he really has. Who knows if we can get there? We’ll see. But when you have guys that are as talented as some of the guys you’re probably thinking of, you try to work with them and have them help you be successful.”

It goes without saying that Pittsburgh has attempted to “work with” troublesome wide receivers in the past. In certain cases, they’ve had some success while in others — like with 2019 third rounder Diontae Johnson — the organization ended up shipping said WR out of town.

Will Pickens turn into the next Johnson? For now, it seems like the Steelers will at least give the soon-to-be 24-year-old one more season to prove that he deserves a long-term extension.

Will Steelers Attack Wide Receiver in Free Agency?

Typically, the Steelers tend to draft their wide receivers in round two or three, but could they address the position in free agency in 2025?

During a follow-up interview with Rob King and the Steelers Audio Network, Rooney made it clear that Pittsburgh will spend in free agency if the right player and team fit emerges.

“I think we always have to look at opportunities and if we can add somebody that’s going to make a difference for us, we’ve got to do that,” Rooney told King.

“We’ve never been averse to doing it,” the Steelers president clarified, “but you have to have sort of the right guy show up at the right time and the right place, and hopefully we’ll have some opportunities this coming spring.”

Per Over the Cap, the Steelers currently have a little over an estimated $40.463 million in available cap space in 2025. Of course, they could still free up more space by cutting a potential cap casualty or two.