Steelers Really Ditching Terry McLaurin for Patriots WR?

The Pittsburgh Steelers want a wide receiver. They haven't decided one which one yet, but they've made it pretty clear that they have interest in the position. Heading into Week 1 of the regular season, the expectation remains that they will have a new name in the room, and right now, that name could be a current second-year player for the New England Patriots.

According to reports from 93.7 The Fan's Andrew Filliponi, the Steelers have interest in second-year wide receiver Ja'Lynn Polk from the New England Patriots. Polk was a second-round pick for the Patriots just a year ago, but does not appear to be a likely candidate to make the 53-man roster. If he doesn't, the Steelers will be ready, as they've already done some background on the young option.

""Source: Steelers have done some homework on Patriots WR Ja'Lynn Polk," Fillipponi wrote. "He's likely to get cut in NE. He was the 37th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. An intriguing player to trade a 7th rounder for or claim off waivers. Stay tuned."

Is that enough? Is Polk even worth the risk? Yes, he's a second-year player with upside and who's young enough to be much better than his single NFL season presents. But the Steelers don't really have room for "improvement" guys. They have a bunch of WR4 and WR5 options. Too many, actually. And without a WR2, they can't really afford to screw up the bottom of their lineup.

It'd be a shocking way to fall if the Steelers somehow went from calling the New Orleans Saints for Chris Olave and the Washington Commanders for Terry McLaurin and then somehow ended up with a fringe roster player that likely won't play this season.

That's the craziest part. Polk doesn't do anything in 2025. If he wasn't good enough to make the Patriots roster, what makes him good enough to be a starter in Pittsburgh? They already have young options in Roman Wilson and Calvin Austin. What they need is talent.

Things are getting chaotic for the black and gold as their wide receiver search continues, and don't expect it to be done with Polk. There's just about two weeks from the start of the regular season, meaning there is two weeks of chaos left. And plenty of names are going to start popping up.