If you’re anything like me, you scroll through Twitter (X) daily for an update on the “Jerry Rice to the Steelers” rumors.

Whoops, my bad, I’m pretty sure I was talking about Terrell Owens.

Darn, it’s so hard trying to type early in the morning.

What I meant to say was that I can’t believe Steelers Twitter is at each other’s throats on the daily over Brandon freaking Aiyuk, better known as Brandon Aiyuk, the excellent receiver for the San Francisco 49ers. Will he be traded to the Steelers? What is Pittsburgh willing to give up to bring him into the fold?

“Yo, bruh, I wouldn’t put anything past the Khan Artist, bruh.”

“King Khan needs to make this happen!”

Why?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Aiyuk isn’t a good receiver. He’s damn good. In fact, he seems to be getting better each season. He set a career-high for receptions with 78 in 2022, his third year in the NFL after the 49ers made him a first-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Aiyuk didn’t break that mark last year; he only had 75 catches, but he set a new high for receiving yards in a season with 1,342. He also set a career-high in yards per reception in 2023 with 17.9.

So, Aiyuk is heading into the final year of his rookie deal. San Francisco picked up Aiyuk’s fifth-year option before the 2023 campaign, but the organization and the player have yet to agree on a new deal.

Are they still involved in negotiations? They reportedly are. Aiyuk is even working out at the 49ers facilities and everything. 

“But, yo, bruh, Aiyuk stopped following the 49ers on social media, bruh (insert eyeball emoji here).”

I’m not exactly sure why players do that, other than to passively aggressively show their employer they mean business. I don’t know about you, but if I wanted to show my bosses that I mean business, I would continue to follow them on social media while holding out.

But Aiyuk is doing things the right way, I suppose.

Anyway, the social media stuff has further fueled the speculation that Pittsburgh could be in the mix to land Aiyuk. It makes sense. The Steelers recently traded Diontae Johnson to the Panthers. Therefore, they need a receiver.

You take Aiyuk’s contract troubles and combine them with the Steelers’ need at receiver, and this has led to a daily watch similar to the 2022 offseason when the Honey Badger was absolutely, positively going to become a Steeler.

But what about the contract that Aiyuk is seeking? I mean, the only reason he reportedly wants out of San Francisco is because he is looking for a deal worth upwards of around $25 million a season over four or five years. A good bit of that money would have to be guaranteed, too.

Finalizing a new contract would have to be part of any blockbuster deal, wouldn’t it? Otherwise, why give up anything other than a mid-round pick for Aiyuk?

At least if you’re the Steelers, anyway. I know we like to think Pittsburgh is closer to being a contender than it was before the signing of Russell Wilson, but is it? The team still has plenty of holes to address, and yes, bringing Aiyuk into the fold would absolutely fill the need at receiver. But how many premium draft picks would it take?

Lots of guaranteed money and at least one premium draft pick? I’m not sure it’s worth it for the Steelers.

After all, we’re talking about a guy with 391 career receptions for 4,363 yards and 25 touchdowns.

Whoops, those were Johnson’s numbers over his five seasons in Pittsburgh, and folks didn’t even want to pay him $18 million a year.

Again, I’m not saying Aiyuk isn’t good, and I certainly understand that he’s better than Johnson, but how much better? He has 269 receptions for 3,931 yards and 25 touchdowns over four seasons. Very good numbers, but are they that much better than Johnson’s?

Obviously, Johnson disgruntled his way out of Pittsburgh. He wanted a fresh start. He wanted a clean slate. But Johnson’s disposition was the result of a Steelers quarterback situation that was mostly horrible from the moment he became a pro back in 2019.

I’ll never know this for sure, but a quarterback of Wilson’s caliber may have been the key to taking Johnson’s game to a new level.

Speaking of Wilson, while I do believe his addition will make the Steelers better at quarterback in 2024, is their room going to be as good as the one in San Francisco that includes Brock Purdy? That doesn’t seem likely.

So, while Aiyuk may be a better receiver than Johnson, will his talents be hindered by playing in an inferior offense and for a quarterback who is a little past his prime?

In other words, will the Steelers be getting similar production to Johnson but for more money and at the expense of premium draft picks?

Again, I’m not sure it’s worth it to bring Aiyuk into the fold when the Steelers could simply draft a receiver in the first round. “Yeah, but why not trade for Aiyuk and use that first-round pick to address another need?”

What if you gain Aiyuk but lose the first-round pick in the process?

Maybe the Steelers will trade for Aiyuk. Maybe they won’t. Maybe it will be worth it. Maybe it won’t.

But I have one final question to ask: Is Brandon Aiyuk worth the stress, non-stop speculation, and daily arguments on Twitter?

That answer is simple: No.