PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers might not be done adding to their wide receiver room. No one knows for sure at this point, as the team recently added veteran Marquez Valdes-Scantling to their practice squad.
It's a foregone conclusion that the Steelers will elevate MVS to the active roster soon, and it's only a matter of time before he's catching a small number of passes from Aaron Rodgers. But is that really it? Some, like Pat McAfee Show correspondent Mark Kaboly and Pittsburgh Post Gazette writer Ray Fittipaldo, believe another trade is coming.
Nationally, that sentiment is shared. In a recent article for CBS Sports, Carter Bahns wrote about why Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver Chris Godwin would be a perfect fit for the offensively-needy Steelers. In a perfect world, that would be a quality addition. But the Steelers don' t live in that world, and Godwin is absolutely a player to avoid as the franchise navigates the final weeks before the NFL Trade Deadline.
That Contract Is a Non-Starter
The biggest issue with this idea has nothing to do with the player's production or abilities. Instead, the obstacle in the way is Godwin's contract. The 30-year-old signed a deal before the 2025 season that runs through 2027, and it is a costly one.
Godwin carries an absurd cap hit for this year and next, coming in at just over and under $30 million for 2026 and 2027. There is a potential out after the 2027 campaign, according to information rom Spotrac, but it comes with a dead cap hit of $16.2 million.
Simply put, Godwin is too expensive to bring on right now. Unless Tampa wants to absord a large portion of that deal, there is no trade to be made between the Steelers and Bucs.
Another Injury-Prone Receiver Solves Nothing
I am a big fan of Godwin. He's a Penn State product with over 120 games in the NFL. He's exceed 1,000 yards in a season four times, and there was a time when he was a bonafide number two receiver.
The last few seasons, however, that's not the case. Injuries have taken its toll on his career, and he played in just 16 games total over the 2024 and 2025 campaigns. Bahns tries to make the case that he is healthy currently, and that's enough for Pittsburgh.
"He is healthy now, though, and that is what matters to the Steelers," he writes. "Plus, he should be a tremendous fit next to Metcalf. Godwin spent every year prior to this one on the other side of a towering No. 1 target in Mike Evans, so he would be right at home in the same lineup as a similarly sizable go-to weapon like Metcalf."
Sure, he's healthy now, playing in all six games this season. But he's not guaranteed to remain on the field for the rest of the schedule. That's true for every player in the NFL, admittedly, but if you are trying to address a position of need that has been ravaged by injuries. adding another player with a history of injuries defeats that entire purpose.
A few years ago, Godwin would have solved nearly every issue on offense. Nowadays, he's a player that comes with an expensive salary and significant risks. It's not the player the Steelers need moving forward, and it's a great idea to avoid this idea altogether.
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