Super Bowl champion says Steelers 'are very close to landing significant playmaker'

"Ooooh, Omar is working," McFadden tweeted on Monday. "The Steelers are very close to landing a significant playmaker." A report that has some serious juice behind it, McFadden may not be an insider, but he is well tied to the Steelers organization and we have a precedent in this situation. 

Speaking to the media after the draft, GM Omar Khan could have shut down any notion that the team was still looking for playmakers on the perimeter, opting to say they are happy with what they have. 

Instead, he doubled down on the fodder:

“Yeah, we’ll see,” Steelers GM Omar Khan said when asked about a potential trade in his post-draft press conference. “I’ve said it before. If there’s ever an opportunity to improve the team, we’re going to look at it, and if makes sense, we’re gonna go after it. We restructured Alex’s deal. It puts us in a position to be flexible with some things if there’s an opportunity to do something.”

By restructuring Alex Highsmith's contract, the team opened up an additional $7m in cap space, totaling their amount available to nearly $20m, which is enough to acquire two common names in trade discussions via Brandon Aiyuk and Courtland Sutton. 

A third player and the dark horse of the group is Deebo Samuel, though recent reports suggest the two sides would have to mend a huge gap before they agree on trade terms. 

Regardless, there is enough smoke here to cause a wildfire. Teams don't just free up cap space before the draft because they feel like it, and former players with close ties to the team don't risk their reputation when they aren't even in the news breaking business. 

At this point it's a question of who Pittsburgh acquires, not if.