Steelers Trade for DeAndre Hopkins? Or More ESPN 'Fake News'?

The Pittsburgh Steelers tried to to trade for San Francisco 49ers for Brandon Aiyuk. That's a fact.

ESPN is now "reporting'' that the Steelers "might be interested'' in a blockbuster trade before the Nov. 5 trade deadline. ... and they listed Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Christian Kirk and Tennessee Titans pass catcher DeAndre Hopkins as options for Pittsburgh.

Fake news?

"I expect (Pittsburgh) to continue to monitor the receiver trade market as the deadline approaches," Dan Graziano wrote. "Tennessee's DeAndre Hopkins and Jacksonville's Christian Kirk are two veterans who could conceivably become available and might be appealing to the Steelers if their teams continue to lose and fall out of the playoff race."

Sounds interesting. Except this "report'' includes more than a dozen names - all of which casual fans have heard of - sending them off in all sorts of directions. (ESPN, for instance, is allowing the readers of their paywall "report'' to conclude that the Dallas Cowboys are trading for Davante Adams or Amari Cooper ... which Cowboys team sources tell us is not an accurate portrayal of their present plan.

There are ideas being floated out there of the Steelers chasing "big-name players'' (the faded former All-Pro Hopkins certainly qualifies there) and there are ideas of the Steelers taking a shot at lesser lights (Darius Slayton of the New York Giants keeps coming up.)

But other than that? What ESPN is doing here is at a level of fan-boy media. These aren't "reports'' on Adams and Cooper and Kirk and Hopkins being provided (for your paying viewership) via sources ... but rather "guesses'' largely designed to lure Steelers fans into the circus tent.