Steelers land WR Mike Williams in trade with New York Jets, add edge Preston Smith in swap with Packers.

The New York Jets will send Williams to the Pittsburgh Steelers, who will receive a fifth-round pick for Williams in 2025, Rapoport and Pelissero reported on Tuesday. Williams, who undergoes a physical, will be the subject of a trade announcement by the three parties involved.

Of course, bolstering the team’s biggest hole at wide receiver wasn’t the end of the Steelers’ activities on deadline day. On that day, Pittsburgh also reportedly shipped a 2025 seventh-round pick to the Green Bay Packers for Preston Smith, improving an already terrific pass-rushing unit. That Smith had been traded was later confirmed by both clubs.

Having two seasons remaining on his current contract, with a base salary of $24.6 million, Smith, 31, will continue his endorsement until the final season. This year he has performed poorly achieving 2.5 sacks and an overall PFF grade of 61.8 in 9 available games for the Packers. Next, he will join T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith in the edge positions for the Steelers. Although Nick Herbig has been hurt, he is expected back relatively soon to the Pittsburgh front seven, which should spell trouble for QBs going into the next games.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Williams, 30, became a casualty of the Jets’ signing of Davante Adams into its WR corps, while the Steelers have been in much need of the position losing attempts to acquire San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk during the offseason. The two sides came together on a deal before Tuesday’s trade call which will be good for both teams.

Formerly with the Los Angeles Chargers for seven seasons, Williams joined the Jets on a one-year deal worth $15 million, $5 million of which was guaranteed. He was, however, fresh from a torn ACL and was limited in his participation in the 2024 season’s early stages. Once Adams came into a receiver room that already had Garrett Wilson and Allen Lazard, it made Williams expendable – even with Lazard who was injured at the time.

At 6-4 and 218 pounds, Williams has the size and great potential to make plays, but in his short time with the Jets, he has only made 12 receptions for 166 yards in nine games (3 starts) with no touchdowns.

Pittsburgh Steelers

In Pittsburgh, there should be even more opportunities, utilizing quarterback Russell Wilson with another proven player opposite WR1 George Pickens.

Dealing the receiver may rate poorly with New York fans, but when the Jets are 3-6 and still in the playoff conversation, there’s little point in worrying about being an ‘underdog’ going forward, and at least the Williams signing wasn’t completely wasted.

The Steelers on the other hand are 6-2 and lead the AFC North having sorted out a problem position that’s been obvious for a long time, even before the regular season started.

Rookie Roman Wilson (hamstring) has been placed on injured reserve and has not been active for any game. Van Jefferson and Calvin Austin III have made large contributions in recent weeks, but Williams is a huge upgrade over Jefferson and Alam.

For weeks, Williams has appeared on the block, and for most of the season, the Pittsburgh Steelers were actively seeking to acquire a receiver. They managed to implement everything on the last day of the deadlines.