Tag Archives: Rodney Williams

Trading Places! Steelers Trade for WR Mike Williams and OLB Preston Smith

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The NFL trading deadline arrived and as expected Omar Khan moved. Everyone expected his first move, but no one saw the second coming.

As had been rumored for weeks, the Pittsburgh Steelers traded for Mike Williams of the New York Jets, sending their 5th round pick from the 2025 NFL Draft in exchange. However, they also traded for Preston Smith, and outside linebacker from the Packers, sending Green Bay a 7th round pick from 2025.

Let’s take a look at the moves.

Mike Williams, DeShon Elliot, Steelers vs Jets

Mike Williams makes a catch against his future team. Photo Credit: AP via Tribune-Review

Steelers Finally Add to their Wide Receiver Room

Rumors of a big move at wide receiver have been pending in Pittsburgh since the Steelers traded Diontae Johnson to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for Donte Jackson. The move never materialized, although the Steelers did come close to a deal for Brandon Aiyuk.

The Steelers were also interested in several other wide receivers, some of whom got traded to other teams, others got injured.

But for weeks Mike Williams has been the center of speculation, with reports that the Steelers were in active negotiations with the Jets that got put on hold before the Jets Sunday Night game against the Steelers.

Mike Williams stands at 6-foot-4, and weighs 218 pounds and his resume includes a tandem of 1,000-yard seasons in 2019 and ’21, and has authored 13 100-yard games since being drafted as the 7th overall pick for the then San Diego Chargers in the 2017 NFL Draft.

Although Williams logged 309 catches for 4,806 yards and 31 touchdowns with the Chargers, they let him go in free agency. The Steelers showed interest, but he opted to ink a one-year, $10 million contract with the Jets.

However, he is coming off of a torn ACL suffered in he 3rd week of in 2023 and he only managed to snag 12 catches for 166 yards from the Jets, which includes one catch on two targets for 15 yards during the Jets in a 37-15 loss to the Steelers.

In four career games against the Steelers, Mike Williams has 14 catches for 236 yards and one touchdown and is 2-2 against his new team.

Is Williams Worth the Price?

If a 5th round pick for a 9-game rental for a player that has just 12 catches sounds like a high price to pay for a wide receiver, that’s because it is.

  • But the cost was likely necessary.

George Pickens is playing well, and with Russell Wilson at quarterback, Van Jefferson and Calvin Austin have seen their roles in the offense increase. But no one should be fool: The Steelers are and have been an injury to George Pickens away from lining up Najee Harris, Jaylen Warren and Connor Heyward in the Wishbone.

Now Mike Williams may not be “starter capable” at this point in his career/recovery, but with rookie Payton Wilson on injured reserve, the Steelers can’t realistically find help at wide receiver elsewhere.

Williams does give Wilson another target who is good at catching 50/50 balls, and that should help loosen up the offense for the other wide outs as well as Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington.

Preston Smith Unexpected, but Welcome

The Steelers decision to bring in an additional outside linebacker might strike you as a surprise, but perhaps it shouldn’t. If memory serves, it was late in the game vs the Giants, perhaps before he authored his game-sealing strip sack, cameras panned to show a obviously winded T.J. Watt on the sidelines.

Anyone who knows Watt understand that he would not be out at such a critical moment if he didn’t need to be. Watt has played over 91% of the snaps, in large part because both Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig have been injured for much of the year.

With DeMarvin Leal out, the Steelers were forced to start 5th string outside linebacker Jeremiah Moon in their absence.

While Highsmith returned to great effect against New York and Herbig is expected back this week, the Steelers are adding depth at a critical position and hopefully bringing in a player who can help T.J. Watt pace himself.

Preston Smith brings a resume with 138 career starts for both Washington and Green Bay to Pittsburgh, and he started every game in eight of his 10 seasons. Smith actually started all nine games for the Packers in 2024 and has recorded 2 1/2 sacks, landed four quarterback hits and made 19 tackles, including two tackles for losses.

To make room for the additions, the Steelers waived tight end and special teams standout Rodney Williams.

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Don’t Look Now: Steelers Put Pat Freiermuth on IR, Activate Diontae Johnson, Cut Gunner Olszewski

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It was too good to be true. Coming out of the bye week the Steelers had reached full health with a clean injury to prove it. Then T.J. Watt’s name popped on to with a heel injury. (Breath easy, Watt will play vs. the Rams.)

But Pat Freiermuth wasn’t so lucky. On Thursday he reinjured his hamstring injury. Steel City Insider’s Jim Wexell described it this way “…when he re-injured it, he cussed loudly and walked off the field and you knew what happened had to be the hamstring.”

Pat Freiermuth, Steelers vs. Browns,

Focused Pat Freiermuth scores the go ahead touchdown. Photo Credit: Karl Roser, Steelers.com

The Steelers ruled him out for the Rams game on Friday and on Saturday morning they put him in injured reserve meaning Freriermuth will miss at least the next four games.

  • That’s bad news for the Steelers.

Pat Freiermuth’s been a reliable receiver with a knack for catching with clutch balls. He’s had a slow start to 2023 (but what player not named Jaylen Warren hasn’t for the Steelers offense) but by the end of 2022 he was developing similar rapport with Kenny Pickett to the one he enjoyed with Ben Roethlisberger in 2021.

  • The hope was that he’d continue that starting with the Rams game. His hamstring had other ideas.

Hamstring injures can be tricky. A non-athlete reading, “He pulled his hamstring” sounds mundane. I mean, who hasn’t pulled a muscle and gone about their day as usual? But hamstrings don’t work that way.

In 1995 Yancey Thigpen exploded to break John Stallworth’s single-season reception record with 85 catches (yes, it was different era.) Yet in 1996, a hamstring injury limited him to 6 games and 12 catches. 2 of those catches were for touchdowns, showing just how much the ’96 Steelers missed Thigpen. A few years later, a hamstring injury suffered in the 1999 Pro Bowl limited Dermontti Dawson to 7 games in 1999 and 9 games in 2000, ultimately forcing his retirement.

Hopefully Pat Freiermuth will fare better.

But his re-injury and trip to injured reserve reminds us that hamstrings heal on their own time and on their own terms.

Hot Rod Next Man Up, Gunner, King Gone, Rush Arrives

One man’s misfortune is another man’s opportunity in the NFL. With Freiermuth on injured reserve rookie Darnell Washington will get an extended look at tight end.

Friermuth’s misfortune is means that Rodney Williams roster spot is safe. Williams is a reserve tight end who transformed and impressive preseason into a practice squad spot. Against the Ravens, in his first game on the active roster he almost recovered Miles Killebrew’s blocked punt. But what came next was more impressive, as Williams willed himself to make a tackle and save a touchdown following Gunner Olszewski’s fumbled punt return.

The punt was ultimately the last straw for the Steelers on Olszewski, whose fumbling problems with the Patriots have followed him to Pittsburgh.

The extra roster spot does clear the way for the Steelers to activate Diontae Johnson, who is believed to have fully recovered from a hamstring he suffered in the opening day loss to the 49ers.

  • The Steelers also made one under the radar move on defense.

While Steelers Nation clamors for Joey Porter Jr. to start over Levi Wallace (or Patrick Peterson or perhaps both!), the Steelers parted ways with Desmond King, the former Houston Texans cornerback whom they signed following cut down day.

King came to Pittsburgh with almost 50 starts and the pickup was hailed as another “Khan Artist Coup.” Yet, he only appeared in 3 games returning 4 kicks in 15 special teams plays and logging a single defensive snap.

  • To replace King the Steelers signed Darius Rush from the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad.

Rush was a highly rated cornerback prospect going into the 2023 NFL Draft. The Indianapolis Colts took him in the 5th round but cut him at the end of summer. The Chiefs picked him up, put him on the active roster for a few games, but then put him back on the practice squad.

Now he’s with the Steelers and must remain on the active roster for at least 3 games.

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