NFL Trade Rumors: Pittsburgh Steelers Reportedly Listening To Offers For Martavis Bryant
Martavis Bryant's future with the Pittsburgh Steelers is up in the air once again.
According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the Steelers are reportedly willing to listen to offers for Bryant once the scouting combine begins in Indianapolis later this week. However, it should be noted that they are not actively shopping him. They are simply keeping their options open.
Bryant has been a productive member of the Steelers receiving corps since 2014. He caught 50 passes for 603 yards in 15 games last season to go with three touchdowns, but the 12.1 yards per reception average was the worst of his career.
He was not exactly happy with his role in the offense last season because he thought he should be getting more snaps than JuJu Smith-Schuster. To make matters worse, he was very vocal about his lack of receptions, and he became somewhat of a distraction in the middle of the season when he took to social media to criticize Smith-Schuster.
If the Steelers want to trade him, now may be the right time to do so because they will likely have to go through all that drama again next season with perennial All-Pro wide receiver Antonio Brown and Smith-Schuster ahead of Bryant on the depth chart.
"Bryant is a free agent in 2019, and if both parties were in an ideal spot, the possibility of a short re-up or long-term pact could have been broached by now, even if the Steelers typically wait until the summer to finalize business," Jeremy Fowler said in his column for ESPN.
"Pittsburgh hasn't made any overtures on a modest bridge contract, in part because they aren't sure what they'll get from him and also because Bryant doesn't have plans to sign. He's made clear he wants to be a No. 1 receiver, and that has to happen elsewhere," he continued.
