After the Pittsburgh Steelers traded away wide receiver George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys, rumors began to circulate about the Steelers finding a replacement in a trade with the Green Bay Packers.
One name is particular emerged as a potential trade candidate: Packers wide receiver Romeo Doubs. The Steelers are still actively attempting to recruit veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers to join their team. Although trading Pickens is unlikely to help convince Rodgers to sign a contract, acquiring one of his former wide receivers appears to have become a tried-and-true method of making the four-time MVP happy. The Packers, however, no longer have any interest in placating their former quarterback.
During an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” ESPN’s Peter Schrager shot down the idea of Green Bay trading any of their wide receivers despite their surplus of talent.
“With the Steelers trading Pickens, there’s been a lot of rumors that [Romeo] Doubs, with his close relationship to [Aaron] Rodgers,” Schrager said on Thursday, via Steelers Depot. “Rodgers used to always praise him when he was a rookie and say how great Romeo was doing. I’m here to tell you, [Packers head coach Matt] LaFleur is like, ‘Romeo Doubs is great in our building.’
“I don’t think one of those Packers [receivers] is necessarily being shipped either just to make Rodgers happy, which has been an assumption online. I think the Packers are really happy with their young wide receiver group. And they add Matthew Golden, it’s like an NBA basketball team. They’re thrilled with what they’ve got.”
Packers won’t help Aaron Rodgers reunite with any former WR in Pittsburgh
The Packers selected wide receiver Matthew Golden in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, finally ending the league’s longest active streak without selecting a first-round wide receiver. The rookie will join a deep group of wide receivers that includes plenty of youth but lacks much high-end talent.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac also pushed back on the speculation of Pittsburgh acquiring another wide receiver through a trade. “No more [wide receiver] trades,” Dulac wrote on Wednesday. “They already did that.”
In many ways, the Steelers are repeating history by trading away Pickens. After they traded away troubled wide receiver Diontae Johnson last offseason, they spent several months chasing after potential trades for a viable replacement. They ultimately fell short of landing a player to line up opposite Pickens. Although the Steelers finally managed to land wide receiver DK Metcalf in a trade with the Seattle Seahawks this offseason, they’ve found themselves right back where they started after trading Pickens.
So if Rodgers does decide to join the Steelers, the Packers aren’t likely to give him any wide receiver help. It’s like he never left Green Bay!