Steelers warned – As the Steelers look to upgrade ahead of the 2026 season, one national caution lands on Brandon Aiyuk: Curt Popejoy compares the wide receiver’s public feud with familiar Antonio Brown-era drama—warning Pittsburgh that the potential price may not match the rew
The Pittsburgh Steelers are still searching for ways to improve their roster as the 2026 NFL season inches closer, and they already made one headline move last month: they announced the re-signing of quarterback Aaron Rodgers for what he says will be his final year as an NFL quarterback.
But the Steelers’ offseason shopping could collide with another story—Brandon Aiyuk.
The San Francisco 49ers star wide receiver remains on the trade market. but he’s also locked in a public feud with the team. Aiyuk missed the entire 2025 season due to injury. and the situation has kept swirling because his frustration has spilled onto social media. He recently posted a video putting the 49ers on blast. and that’s where one Steelers follower believes the risk for Pittsburgh starts to look too familiar.
Curt Popejoy of Steelers Wire. speaking as a long-time Steelers fan. warned that Aiyuk’s kind of visibility could drag the franchise back toward the wrong type of headlines. Popejoy wrote: “As a long-time Steelers fan. videos like this feel way too much like some of the classics from former Steeler Antonio Brown and this team doesn’t need that sort of baggage.”.
Those Antonio Brown years are being referenced for a reason. In the later stage of Brown’s tenure with the Steelers, the narrative often centered less on production on the gridiron and more on off-field controversies and drama—an ugly end that eventually saw the two sides part ways.
For Aiyuk, the central question right now isn’t just whether Pittsburgh could land a talent it wants. It’s what kind of cost any trade would carry, both in return and in risk. The bigger uncertainty. as framed around his situation. is whether he can return to the same player level after not having taken the field for a game in well over a year due to injury.
In other words. even if a deal becomes possible. the trade logic may get stuck on the same calculation: how much an opposing team would be willing to give up for Aiyuk while factoring in the “baggage” Popejoy points to—and whether the Steelers would feel the juice is worth the squeeze when it comes to a potential move.
With the Steelers drawing nearer to the 2026 season and already committing to Aaron Rodgers for what he says will be his final year, the Aiyuk question now hangs over Pittsburgh with a blunt edge: the potential addition could come with a spotlight the franchise has already lived through once before.
Pittsburgh Steelers Aaron Rodgers Brandon Aiyuk San Francisco 49ers trade market Curt Popejoy Steelers Wire Antonio Brown NFL news 2026 season