Lions tabbed as WR rescue raft for biggest loser in Brandon Aiyuk sweepstakes

A months-long cycle of news/rumors reached a boring conclusion this week, when the 49ers and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk agreed to a four-year deal to keep him in San Francisco. So the teams that had been rumored to be interested in trading for him, perhaps none more ultimately prominent than the Pittsburgh Steelers, are left to find other options on short notice.

According to Ryan Pawloski of Still Curtain, the Lions have some wide receiver options on their practice quad the Steelers should consider. The Lions somehow "hold all the cards" for the Steelers after they missed out on Aiyuk.

Of course being on the practice squad leaves those players open to being poached, and the Steelers would have to add them to their 53-man roster. Said players would also have to want to leave the Lions; the Steelers can't just freely poach them because they want to.

Let's go through the options Pawloski highlighted on the Lions' practice squad.

Lions somehow painted as WR rescue raft for the Steelers

Donovan Peoples-Jones

Peoples-Jones took a clear opportunity to replace Josh Reynolds in the Lions' wide receiving corps and botched it during training camp and the preseason. He ended up back on the practice squad, so it's fair to assume opportunities to sign elsewhere weren't robust. Or maybe he just wanted to come back to the Lions, if they wanted him.

Apart from that, the Steelers saw Peoples-Jones up close in the final preseason game. If they wanted him that badly after roster cuts, even with the Aiyuk situation not yet having reached its full conclusion, they could have made room for him then.

Tom Kennedy

Kennedy is an annual August star for the Lions, which leads some fans to love him more than his actual ability proves. A "reliable slot receiver", as Pawloski tabbed Kennedy, has 14 career regular season catches.

Kennedy probably has affinity for the Lions, and may want to stay no matter what. But if the Steelers wanted to add him to their 53-man roster, it's an opportunity that'd be hard to turn down.

Tim Patrick

After missing each of the last two seasons due to major injuries, Patrick appeared to be healthy with the Broncos this preseason and he looked good. But they made it known they were parting ways with him, and the Lions ended up getting him on their practice squad.

Patrick is the wide receiver on the Lions' practice squad who's most likely to be wanted by other teams. There is a Steelers' familiarity angle. He had two offseasons of work with quarterback Russell Wilson in Denver, which of course never manifested itself in regular season production due to Patrick's injuries.

Allen Robinson

Robinson spent last season with the Steelers, and he was an easy cap casualty for them early this offseason. So why would they bring him back now? Sheerly being a familiar face doesn't feel sufficient. More importantly, why would he want to go back to Pittsburgh? He'd surely acknowledge he deserved a pay cut, but it's unclear if the Steelers put that on the table before cutting him.

So the wide receiver "cards" the Lions hold for the Steelers, after they missed out on Aiyuk, are these.

Peoples-Jones: If the Steelers wanted him they could already have him, unless he simply wanted to be back with the Lions so badly.

Kennedy: No offense to Kennedy, but if the Steelers want to poach him off the Lions' practice squad they can have him, and it's an opportunity he should consider.

Patrick: This is the one the Steelers should, and probably do, want most. It may come down to Patrick's desire to see an opportunity with the Lions all the way through, and right now maybe the timing just isn't right.

Robinson: Robinson would surely "love" to go back to the team that cut him months ago, and nothing much he put on tape for them last year should greatly foster the Steelers' interest in a reunion.

As much as the Lions' practice squad depth at wide receiver makes them convenient to be poached from, it takes two to tango. Kennedy could be open to leaving the Lions immediately for a 53-man roster spot elsewhere, but that might be a stretch. On the assumption he turned down other teams to land on the Lions' practice squad, and he wants to see that opportunity through, Patrick doesn't feel like an option right now. Peoples-Jones and Robinson feel like dead-ends, for their own reasons.


Having a sheer number of options doesn't make the Lions' practice squad a viable solution for the Steeler's wide receiver issue. They are simply better off looking elsewhere for their Aiyuk fallback plan.