Steelers Sign Former Philadelphia Eagles Starter at Wide Receiver

The Pittsburgh Steelers have added another wide receiver to their depth chart.

They had become very thin at the position after they traded Diontae Johnson, leaving themselves with George Pickens and Calvin Austin as the only receivers on the roster who had made a catch for them in 2023.

Since the trade, they brought in Van Jefferson to add some depth at the position.

Now they’ve gone out and gotten themselves another veteran receiver and this time it’s a receiver who isn’t going to need to move very far to join his new team.

According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Steelers are signing former Philadelphia Eagles receiver Quez Watkins.

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Watkins Surprising Eagles Career

Back in 2020, the Eagles made the wide receiver position a focus of their draft. In the first round they selected Jalen Reagor out of TCU with the hope he’d be their next star at the position.

Unfortunately, it was a decision that didn’t work out and Reagor didn’t even end up finishing his rookie deal with the team.

Luckily, Reagor wasn’t the only receiver they drafted that year.

The Eagles also landed Watkins in the sixth round of the 2020 draft and things worked out quite a bit better for him in Philly.

Watkins’ career started out slowly. He made just 7 catches for 106 yards as a rookie, but he became a much bigger part of the offense in year two.

In his second season, Watkins surpassed Reagor and finished third on the team in receptions and yards. He made 43 catches for 647 yards that year.

Then the team added A.J. Brown and Watkins saw his target share take a hit. In 2022 his numbers came down to 33 catches for 354 yards.

This past season, he saw his role diminished even further. He made just 15 catches for 142 yards in nine games.

It certainly wasn’t the ending Watkins would have wanted in Philadelphia, but he was able to put together a solid four years there despite being a late round pick in a draft where the team had already made a significant investment at his position.

Now he gets to stick around in Pennsylvania for another year and try to earn himself a consistent role in a new offense.

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Steelers Still Need a Receiver

Since trading Johnson, the Steelers have now made moves to add a couple of veterans at wide receiver.

Unfortunately, neither of them is actually a replacement for Johnson.

Jefferson and Watkins both had their best season back in 2021 and neither has reached 400 yards in a year since.

Both should find themselves competing with Austin to be the team’s WR3.

This Steelers team took big steps toward improving their offense this offseason. Those steps aren’t going to mean much if their quarterback has limited options to throw to.

The team has added some solid depth at the position, but they still need to go out and get a WR2 that capitalize on the attention Pickens is going to get from opposing defenses.

If they don’t this offense might not look a whole lot better than it did in 2023.

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