Trading WR Diontae Johnson was never the problem for the Steelers

Steeler Nation is squarely divided with half of them spiraling after the Pittsburgh Steelers failed to land San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk via trade. The Steelers play their first regular-season game in a week and most NFL pundits consider the Steelers wide receiver room one of the worst in the league.

Many fans also want to point fingers at General Manger Omar Khan and the Steelers front office for trading away a perfectly good starting wide receiver in Diontae Johnson.

But that isn’t the issue. It never was. Johnson and George Pickens are both divas. They struggle with immaturity that will overshadow their talent. There was no way the Steelers could go into this season with both guys on the roster. Pickens is younger, more talented and cheaper.

The mistake the Steelers and specifically Khan made was not having a plan to replace him. You know the old saying. Failure to plan is a plan to fail. Putting all the team’s eggs in the basket of a possible trade, a couple of mid-tier veterans and rookie Roman Wilson.

If the Steelers offense struggles after all the changes they have made, it will be hard not to wonder if all of it was for nothing because of this one move.