Pittsburgh Steelers Eye Rashid Shaheed to Boost Deep Ball Threat
The Pittsburgh Steelers are looking to add another offensive weapon to the roster.
The Steelers are off to a 3-1 start and coming off a 24-21 win over the Minnesota Vikings in Dublin, and had their bye week last week. With Pittsburgh off to a hot start, the Steelers could be aggressive ahead of the trade deadline.
One area of need is at receiver, and the Steelers are already calling around. According to Steelers insider Andrew Fillipponi, Pittsburgh has checked in with the New Orleans Saints over Rashid Shaheed.
“Source: The Steelers reached out to the Saints during the bye week to take their temperature on WR Rashid Shaheed. Who will be a FA at the end of the year. Big play WR and return man. Trades are being made in the NFL left and right,” Fillipponi wrote on X.
Shaheed signed a one–year, $5.2 million contract extension with the Saints this offseason and is off to a hot start. With New Orleans likely to be near the bottom of the standings, Shaheed’s name has come up in trade talks.
The speedy receiver would be a deep ball threat for Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers’ offense. Shaheed has recorded 22 receptions for 288 yards and 2 touchdowns this season, including an 87-yard touchdown reception, showing his ability to stretch the field.
Rodgers: Steelers Don’t Have a Deep Ball Right Now
Pittsburgh’s offense has struggled this season to move the ball downfield.
Rodgers has done a good job of taking what the defense has given him. But he explained why the deep ball hasn’t been a part of the Steelers’ offense.
“It’s easy playing [against] Cover 2,” Rodgers said. “Playing Cover 2, there’s not gonna be a ton of big shots down the field. Until we get them in one-high, it’s gonna be precision passing short of the sticks… There’s not going to be a lot of shots open down the boundary. So, we’re just trying to be efficient.”
Although Rodgers believes the opposing team’s defense is why the deep ball hasn’t been effective, it also could be due to the receiver core.
If the Steelers do make a move for Shaheed, it could open up the deep ball and make Pittsburgh’s offense that much better.
Mike Tomlin Sees Areas For Improvement on Offense
Although the Steelers are off to a good start, head coach Mike Tomlin believes the offense needs to improve.
Tomlin believes the Steelers’ offense has had some moments, but he believes it could be better.
“All areas, to be quite honest with you,” Tomlin admitted. “We’ve had some good moments. We’ve had some moments that aren’t good. We’ve got to keep pushing, and we’d better win along the way.”
Pittsburgh is averaging just 24 points per game, and the Steelers are atop the AFC North. But, despite every other team losing in the division, Tomlin doesn’t care as he’s just focused on his team.
“I don’t care what happened with other people, particularly last weekend,” Tomlin said. “It’s about us coming off the bye and getting ready for our game this week. I’m not a big-picture guy.”
Pittsburgh hosts the Cleveland Browns in Week 6.
Red Sox’s ‘Lightning’ Prospect Delivers Good News in Injury Comeback
(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Luis Perales #93 of the Boston Red Sox poses for a portrait during photo day at JetBlue Park at Fenway South on February 18, 2025 in Fort Myers, Florida.
As the Red Sox scrambled to find a pathway into the playoffs in what was a trying month of September thanks to a raft of injuries to the team’s starting pitching rotation, one possibility that cropped up was the addition of prospect Luis Perales to the mix. Rookies Payton Tolle and Connelly Early had already had eye-opening late-season debuts with the big-league team, and the notion was that perhaps Perales could join them.
Of all the Red Sox’ pitching prospects, Perales probably remains the most enticing. He struck out 115 batters in 89.2 innings in Single A in 2023, then was on his way to showing more refinement as a pitcher in 2024 (nine starts, 33.2 innings, 56 strikeouts) at Single A and Double A when he injured his elbow and needed Tommy John surgery.
He was back on the mound this year. And team chief baseball honcho Craig Breslow even pointed to the possibility of Perales earning a late-year call-up.
As he said: “We’ll balance his recovery from Tommy John with the possibility that he can help us. He’s a really, really exciting young arm and before he got hurt, I think we saw a little bit of that upside with a fastball that’s (hitting) triple-digits and a dominant cutter and split.”
Luis Perales Hits 101 MPH in Fall League
Ultimately, Perales did not make the jump, but the good news for the Red Sox is this: He is in the fall league and continuing to show why he might be the team’s top pitching prospect, better even than Tolle and Early.
Perales threw 1.1 innings in the Arizona Fall League this week, and while the three walks and a hit are a concern, the big number was 101. That’s the speed his fastball hit, according to MLB.com. Perales was consistently around 99 mph, but topped triple digits up to 101.
“It just felt good being out there competing and just kind of building off of that,” Perales said, via an interpreter. “I felt good, felt strong. The cutter is one of my better secondaries, so just seeing it perform today felt good. It also was just kind of a testament to the hard work I put in during the rehab and on to right now.”
Red Sox See a Front-End Starter
MLB Pipeline ranks Perales as the No. 9 prospect in the Red Sox farm system, and as the team has tried to build up its pitching depth in the minors, he’s been surpassed by other arms. Tolle is the No. 2 overall prospect, and Early is No. 6. June 2025 first-round pick Kyson Witherspoon is No. 4 on the list and No. 5 is Brandon Clarke, the 6-foot-4 22-year old who was the team’s fifth-round pick in 2024.
At 6-foot-1, 160, it’s fair to question whether Perales can physically hold up to be a top-end starter. But the Red Sox think he can.
Writes Pipeline in its scouting report: “Perales makes up for a lack of physicality with lightning-quick arm speed that generates four-seam fastballs that sit at 95-98 mph and touch 99 with a flat approach angle and huge carry up in the strike zone. …
“While Perales is athletic and gets down the mound well to create extension, he’s also small for a starter and throws with some effort. … The Red Sox still are convinced that he can become a frontline starter, though he’ll miss the 2025 season and other clubs think it’s more likely he’ll become a closer.”
