Steelers’ AFC North Rival Ravens Winning On Monday Night Football Not Only Bad Thing To Happen For Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh Steelers are 5-2 and tied for the lead in the AFC North with the Baltimore Ravens. Head Coach Mike Tomlin's team has fought through some adversity in 2024, particularly surrounding a lot of talk about the quarterback situation. The two franchises won't meet until Week 11 in what is expected to be a highly-anticipated showdown. In Week 7, the Steelers took care of the New York Jets handily while the Ravens put on an offensive clinic against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Baltimore winning was unfortunate, but the Buccaneers also had something happen that could affect Tomlin and co. in the coming weeks.

Tampa Bay has one of the better receiving corps in the NFL, and that is a big reason why Baker Mayfield has had a career resurgence working as the starting quarterback. Mike Evans is arguably the most consistent pass-catcher of his era and Chris Godwin complements him perfectly. Unfortunately, both players went down with injuries against Baltimore, and Godwin's prognosis is not good.

Evans aggravated a hamstring injury he had been dealing with leading up to the game and could certainly miss some time, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.

One may wonder how this affects the Steelers. The Buccaneers just entered a conversation that they weren't originally expected to be in. With playoff aspirations, the wide receivers' room is all of a sudden looking awfully light in Tampa Bay.

Godwin is a free agent in 2025 and could absolutely find himself playing elsewhere following a full recovery, but now, a market flooded with wide receiver-needy teams just got a new organization added into the mix. This will only make it more difficult for General Manager Omar Khan to go out there and potentially outbid another franchise looking for help on the offensive side of the ball.

It's been known for quite some time that the Steelers need another wide receiver to pair with George Pickens. Teams like the Ravens, Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers, among others, could also be looking for help in the area. The Buccaneers can now be added to the list, bringing another complex piece to the puzzle for Khan and the front office.

The more teams out there looking for pass-catcher help, the more difficult it will be to negotiate a trade that works for all parties involved. There are only a couple of weeks left until the trade deadline, so it will be interesting to see which teams are aggressive in their pursuits for wide receiver help. The Steelers need to be at the top of the list, despite putting up back to back 30-point games.

Former Steelers Wide Receiver May Be On His Way To Play For Buccaneers

Diontae Johnson is going to be a free agent in 2025, so it makes almost perfect sense for the Buccaneers to target him in a trade with the Carolina Panthers. This would be an idea scenario for Pittsburgh, as Khan is unable to trade for the pass-catcher that he dealt back in March due to an obscure NFL rule. Tampa Bay is now going to be in the market, but Johnson going there doesn't affect the Steelers all that much at the end of the day.

Do you think that the Buccaneers could snag one of the Steelers' potential wide receiver trade targets? Let us know in the comments below!

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