Calvin Austin's injury may force Steelers GM Omar Khan to go to work on his bye week ahead of the looming trade deadline

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Rob Gregson | Last updated Sep 29, 2025 3:00 PM ET

The Pittsburgh Steelers are sitting pretty heading into their bye week. At 3-1 and atop the AFC North (ahead of the result of the Cincinnati Bengals game), as Mike Tomlin said after the game, the Steelers are what their record says they are.

But they are also banged up. The secondary is in shambles, and a razor-thin WR corps is now on its last legs as Calvin Austin III is dealing with a shoulder injury that will sideline him for a few weeks. Now, it could have been worse, as it looked like it could have been a collarbone.

But even with Austin escaping the worst, it's time for Omar Khan to pick up his phone and solidify the Steelers' depth in the WR corps once and for all.

Steelers need to call Miami about Tyreek Hill

"The writing has been on the wall for Tyreek Hill from the moment he first arrived in Miami. His first monster contract extension, which gave him an average of $30M annually, was fluffed by a monster cash schedule of non-guaranteed money in 2026. Miami moved some of that money around last season but the fact remains that Hill's owed money isn't likely to be paid out. And Hill doesn't seem like the type to willfully take a pay cut."

"Hill is owed $29.9M in base salary, a $5M roster bonus in March, and then a maximum of $1.1M in workout & per game bonuses." - Kyle Crabbs, A to Z Sports Miami

The money is a lot, but this is Tyreek Hill we are talking about. Go watch what he did against the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night a couple weeks back and tell me he's not still an elite threat on the perimeter.

Newsflash, he is.

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"Miami, for their part, enters their Week 4 contest with the New York Jets at 0-3 and Hill had already taken great exception with a 8-9 finish in 2024. These two parties have tried to sweep the residuals of his post-game comments in Week 18, in which he inferred he was "out of here", under the rug. But the connection has felt a little off ever since. But with Mike McDaniel coaching for his job and general manager Chris Grier similarly hanging on by a thread, the Dolphins may not be prepared to actually move Hill unless some heads roll in the football operation first. It's good business to do it, though."

"The Steelers are an obvious choice given the vulunerability we have seen from the rest of the AFC Conference thus far. Pittsburgh hasn't been shy about pushing chips in to the center of the table and Hill would be another example of that. Best of all, he'd only be due the prorated amount of whatever is left on his $10M base salary this season if he's moved — the Dolphins already paid the majority of his compensation in the form of an option bonus in August." - Crabbs

So, to me, this one is a no-brainer. You're trading for a player who is still elite, at a position of need, and with a potential out if things don't work out. So Khan should enjoy his bye, but he needs to be making a call, or perhaps a trip to Miami.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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