Picture this: It’s the spring of 2025. Pat Freiermuth just signed with some other team in free agency.

The Steelers wanted to bring Freiermuth back, but he wasn’t worth to them what he was to someone else.

Around this time, rumors surface that tight end Kyle Pitts, the fourth pick of the 2021 NFL Draft, is a bit disgruntled in Atlanta. Pitts had a career year in 2024–say, 75 receptions for 1,100 yards and eight touchdowns–and instead of playing on his fifth-year option (the Falcons picked that up prior to the 2024 campaign), he wants a multi-year deal that will make him one of the highest–if not the highest–paid tight ends in football.

More rumors begin to circulate that Pitts wants to be reunited with Arthur Smith in Pittsburgh. It makes sense. Smith was Pitts’s first head coach and even went to his first Pro Bowl during his rookie season in 2021.

Strong sources indicate that Omar Khan, the Steelers’ wheeling and dealing general manager, is trying to make a trade for Pitts before the 2025 NFL Draft. And if it doesn’t happen before the draft, it surely will happen during it.

No trade occurs, and the Steelers don’t do anything to fill the hole at tight end during free agency or in the draft.

What are the Steelers going to do about the glaring need at tight end? Darnell Washington? He’s not elusive enough. Connor Heyward? He’s not big enough. The Van Jefferson of tight ends? Not going to cut it.

The “Pitts to Pittsburgh” rumors never end. They last through the spring and into the summer. Local and national sports personalities put their reputations on the line, insisting that Khan and the Falcons are talking. At least one Steelers fan on Twitter (currently X) has changed their handle to “Pittsburgh.” This person, along with many other Steelers fans, goes on social media daily in search of “Pitts to Pittsburgh” news. Troll accounts with 448 followers trick naive fans into believing that a deal is imminent. Eyeball emojis are popping out everywhere.

It’s madness for months.

Don’t think that can happen? It’s been happening non-stop in 2024 with the “Brandon Aiyuk to the Steelers” trade rumors.

Aiyuk either wants out of San Francisco or to be paid a boatload of money–or both. The Steelers need an upgrade at receiver thanks to trading Diontae Johnson to the Panthers in March.

Aiyuk wants to play for Mike Tomlin. He also looks like Mike Tomlin. Connect the dots.

I would be super excited about these rumors if they started two days ago. But they didn’t start two days ago. As I’ve already indicated, these rumors began in March and won’t die.

Last week, the rumors got so strong that Aiyuk seemed on the verge of becoming a Steeler.

Maybe Aiyuk will be traded to Pittsburgh. Maybe he won’t. But no matter what happens, a dangerous precedent has already been set: If the Steelers have a hole in the future, forget internal options or the draft, trade rumors will start. Yes, this has happened before, even with available free agents. Who can forget the months-long debate about the Honey badger two years ago? Remember that oft-injured safety from the Colts who everyone wanted to see come to town as a replacement for Terrell Edmunds?

But those kinds of rumors just seem more plausible under Khan. He’s no Kevin Colbert. To repeat: Khan wheels and deals.

“What’s wrong with that?” you may be asking. Nothing, in theory. I mean, what do I care if Aiyuk becomes a Steeler? I’m not concerned with what Pittsburgh pays him or has to give up in terms of draft picks and/or current players (Freiermuth is said to be one of the pieces the 49ers may want back in a trade).

Aiyuk would make the Steelers a better team, there is no doubt about it. But the question is this: How much better? Another question: Would the improvement be worth it in the end?

If the Steelers are willing to pay Aiyuk $25-$30 million a season plus give up high draft picks and/or players to trade for him, what are they hoping to get in return for their investment? If it’s anything short of evolving into a true Super Bowl contender, why even bother?

I’m not sure it’s worth it to bother. Even with Aiyuk, are the Steelers in the same class as the Chiefs and Bills or even the Dolphins and Jets? Heck, for that matter, would Pittsburgh be able to move past the Ravens and Bengals in the AFC North pecking order?

I have a hard time believing any of those things would become a reality with Aiyuk in the fold.

If I had to rate the Steelers in terms of attractiveness (and I realize this might be crude in 2024), I’d say they were a six. If I had to rate Aiyuk, I’d say he was a seven on his best day, which is to say in a Kyle Shanahan offense. In Pittsburgh, however, Aiyuk is probably no more than a six. And that’s okay. To quote Seinfeld: I like six.

Dating would be much easier if sixes were always happy with other sixes. But there are a lot of sixes who want to be with 10s and treated like 10s.

Aiyuk is asking the Steelers to invest an awful lot in him, and what’s it going to get them?

Also, forget about the competitive side of things, what will it do to their locker room? George Pickens may suddenly want more money if Aiyuk is making $25 million a season. T.J. Watt might bristle at no longer being the highest-paid Steeler.

There is a lot to think about with an Aiyuk trade other than just simply bringing him to Pittsburgh.

Again, though, I wouldn’t care all that much if not for the trend it would set with Steelers fans and the local and national media.

If they are rewarded with an Aiyuk trade after months of never shutting the hell up about it, they’ll be insufferable moving forward. They’ll look at trades as the solution to everything.

Unfortunately, the best trades are the ones that turn very good football teams into bona fide Super Bowl contenders. Again, I’m not so sure the Steelers are very good at the moment. They might be okay, but just okay.

When all is said and done, will adding a six to their receiving corps make the Steelers anything other than a stronger wildcard contender? If not, what’s the point of bringing him to town for all that it will cost to do so?

Finally, forget about if or when Brandon Aiyuk ever becomes a Steeler, the ongoing circus that has become their fans and the sports media amid these ongoing rumors has set a precedent that I’m not sure the organization can rebound from in the future.

Omar Khan is already the patron saint of what sports fans seem to cherish the most these days, and that’s transaction talk–“Trade for this guy.” “Sign that guy.” “Fire this guy.”

There may be no turning back now.