{"id":49327,"date":"2025-05-19T02:21:11","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T02:21:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=49327"},"modified":"2025-05-19T02:21:11","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T02:21:11","slug":"breaking-steelers-urged-to-make-aggressive-move-with-wr-calvin-austin-iii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=49327","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Steelers Urged to Make Aggressive Move With WR Calvin Austin III.."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2155683528.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2155683528.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2155683528.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2155683528.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Calvin Austin III\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" data-img-load-time=\"110\" data-dom-ready-time=\"162\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">Steelers Depot&#8217;s Ross McCorkle argued the Pittsburgh Steelers should sign wide receiver Calvin Austin III to a contract extension.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0have the reputation of selecting wide receivers outside the first round of the NFL Draft and developing them into stars. But it\u2019s been quite some time since the team signed a wideout they drafted to a second contract. Steelers Depot\u2019s Ross McCorkle argued Sunday the team should consider changing that fact with\u00a0Calvin Austin III.<\/p>\n<p>McCorkle encouraged\u00a0the Steelers to sign Austin to a contract extension.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt may not seem like a high-priority right now, but I would argue his career trajectory is still promising and that his impact goes beyond the box score,\u201d\u00a0wrote McCorkle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInternally, Austin is highly respected. Russell Wilson dubbed him the biggest star of the Steelers\u2019 season. That is perhaps an overstatement, but a telling one. Roman Wilson called him\u00a0<em>the\u00a0<\/em>leader of the WR room last offseason. Not George Pickens. Not Van Jefferson.\u00a0<em>Calvin Austin III.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Austin only had\u00a036 catches last season, but he was one of\u00a0Russell Wilson\u2019s favorite downfield targets. Austin averaged 15.2 yards per catch on his way to 548 receiving yards.<\/p>\n<p>He also had four touchdowns and returned a punt for a score.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Why It Could Be Crucial for the Steelers to Sign Calvin Austin III<\/h2>\n<p>Just like\u00a0George Pickens,\u00a0Austin will enter\u00a0a contract season during 2025.\u00a0The Steelers drafted\u00a0Austin two rounds after Pickens at No. 138 overall in the 2022 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n<p>Austin missed his rookie season because of a foot injury. He then didn\u2019t have much of an offensive role behind Pickens and\u00a0Diontae Johnson in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>But Austin\u2019s emergence in 2024 was promising. McCorkle also continued to argue that Austin gives the Steelers even more with his leadership and personality.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s not just another diva wide receiver in a long line of them in Pittsburgh. How many years now have the talking heads been discussing the death of the \u2018Steeler Way?\u2019 It has been a frequent talking point in recent years, and especially on the offensive side of the ball,\u201d\u00a0wrote McCorkle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is obviously a strong correlation between the lack of continuity and the dying culture.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSomebody like Austin, who is young, rising and respected by his teammates is exactly the type of guy they should look to extend.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Currently, the Steelers have one player they drafted on offense that they signed to a second contract \u2014 tight end\u00a0Pat Freiermuth.<\/p>\n<p>At receiver, the Steelers traded Pickens and\u00a0Chase Claypool\u00a0before their rookie contracts expired. Former third-rounder\u00a0James Washington didn\u2019t receive a second contract in Pittsburgh either.<\/p>\n<p>The Steelers signed Johnson to a second deal but traded him prior to the receiver completing the contract.\u00a0Juju Smith-Schuster\u00a0received a second deal, but it was only a one-year offer.<\/p>\n<p>The last receiver to complete a second contract in Pittsburgh was Antonio Brown, and the Steelers also eventually traded him away.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Could Austin Replace George Pickens?<\/h2>\n<p>The best way for Austin to land a second contract in Pittsburgh is to help the team replace Pickens this season.\u00a0The Steelers traded\u00a0Pickens to the\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0on May 7.<\/p>\n<p>Without him, the Steelers only have one quality outside receiver \u2014\u00a0DK Metcalf. Pittsburgh signed veteran\u00a0Robert Woods\u00a0before trading Pickens, but\u00a0Woods only had\u00a020 catches and 203 receiving yards last season.<\/p>\n<p>Last season,\u00a0Austin was third\u00a0among Steelers wideouts in outside snaps. Only Pickens and\u00a0Van Jefferson, who also isn\u2019t returning for 2025, had more.<\/p>\n<p>Despite ranking third for Pittsburgh wideouts in outside snaps, though,\u00a0Austin played almost 63% of his snaps in the slot during 2024. That\u2019s a clear indication the team sees his best value as a slot receiver.<\/p>\n<p>But if the Steelers don\u2019t add an upgrade at wideout this summer, then Austin could have an opportunity for more outside snaps in 2025. At the very least, he could be due for even more targets than last season.<\/p>\n<p>In 2024, Austin set a new career high with 58 targets.<\/p>\n<p>With those opportunities, if Austin takes another step in his development, it could make a lot of sense for the Steelers to re-sign him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty Steelers Depot&#8217;s Ross McCorkle argued the Pittsburgh Steelers should sign wide receiver Calvin Austin III to a contract extension. The\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0have the reputation of selecting wide&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING: Steelers Urged to Make Aggressive Move With WR Calvin Austin III.. - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=49327\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Steelers Urged to Make Aggressive Move With WR Calvin Austin III.. - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty Steelers Depot&#8217;s Ross McCorkle argued the Pittsburgh Steelers should sign wide receiver Calvin Austin III to a contract extension. The\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0have the reputation of selecting wide...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=49327\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-19T02:21:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/4-112.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"386\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"323\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=49327\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=49327\",\"name\":\"BREAKING: Steelers Urged to Make Aggressive Move With WR Calvin Austin III.. - 24\/7 News America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=49327#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=49327#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/4-112.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-19T02:21:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-19T02:21:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=49327#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=49327\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=49327#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/4-112.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/4-112.jpg\",\"width\":386,\"height\":323},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=49327#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"BREAKING: Steelers Urged to Make Aggressive Move With WR Calvin Austin III..\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"24\/7 News America\",\"description\":\"Breaking Stories, Real Insights&quot;\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\",\"name\":\"Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"BREAKING: Steelers Urged to Make Aggressive Move With WR Calvin Austin III.. - 24\/7 News America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=49327","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"BREAKING: Steelers Urged to Make Aggressive Move With WR Calvin Austin III.. - 24\/7 News America","og_description":"Getty Steelers Depot&#8217;s Ross McCorkle argued the Pittsburgh Steelers should sign wide receiver Calvin Austin III to a contract extension. The\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0have the reputation of selecting wide...","og_url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=49327","og_site_name":"24\/7 News America","article_published_time":"2025-05-19T02:21:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":386,"height":323,"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/4-112.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=49327","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=49327","name":"BREAKING: Steelers Urged to Make Aggressive Move With WR Calvin Austin III.. - 24\/7 News America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=49327#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=49327#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/4-112.jpg","datePublished":"2025-05-19T02:21:11+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-19T02:21:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=49327#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=49327"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=49327#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/4-112.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/4-112.jpg","width":386,"height":323},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=49327#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"BREAKING: Steelers Urged to Make Aggressive Move With WR Calvin Austin III.."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/","name":"24\/7 News America","description":"Breaking Stories, Real Insights&quot;","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914","name":"Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Admin"},"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=49327"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49329,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49327\/revisions\/49329"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/49328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=49327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=49327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=49327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}