Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that earlier this week the Pittsburgh Steelers traded their No. 1 wideout, Antonio Brown, to the Oakland Raiders for third and fifth-round picks in the 2019 NFL Draft. That move left the Steelers with a bit of a hole in their wide receiver corps, and they responded early Thursday morning by signing former Colts and Jaguars wide receiver Donte Moncrief to a two-year deal, according to ESPN.com's Adam Schefter.
Former Jaguars’ WR Donte Moncrief reached agreement on a two-year deal with the Pittsburgh Steeelrs, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 14, 2019
Moncrief, a third-round pick of the Colts in 2014, spent his first four years in Indianapolis before signing with Jacksonville last year. His best season came back in 2015, when he was one of Andrew Luck's top targets and caught 64 passes for 733 yards and five touchdowns. He had a solid but unspectacular season with the Jags last year, hauling in 48 passes for 668 yards and three scores.
He has good size at 6-2, 220 pounds, and he's shown an ability to make plays on downfield throws, but he has never been consistent enough to become the kind of force his talent sometimes suggests he can be. Moncrief will not be the No. 1 receiver in Pittsburgh (that's JuJu Smith-Schuster's role now) but he figures to battle it out with second-year man James Washington, slot receivers Eli Rogers and Ryan Switzer, and whomever the Steelers add either in the remainder or free agency or the draft for the role as Ben Roethlisberger's secondary perimeter target.
The Steelers' offense is going to take on a much different look and feel without Brown, Le'Veon Bell, and longtime right tackle Marcus Gilbert, and Moncrief's signing is just one piece of what has to be a much larger puzzle.
