First Call: Ben Roethlisberger's draft tip for Steelers; ESPN says Steelers 'team to watch' for a Courtland Sutton trade

Thursday’s “First Call” features Ben Roethlisberger’s suggestion for the Pittsburgh Steelers on Day 1 of the NFL Draft.

We try to connect some dots between Alex Highsmith’s contract restructure and what that means for the Steelers on the wide receiver trade front. A potential second-round draftee talks about why one perceived negative of his game is being called a positive by the Steelers.

And a player of note is giving Arthur Smith an endorsement as the Steelers’ new offensive coordinator.

A sign of things to come?

As we have advanced here at “First Call” over the past few days, the prospect of a trade between Pittsburgh and Denver for Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton might make some sense.

After all, Sutton reportedly wants to rework the remaining two years on his contract and the Steelers are in need of a wide receiver. So perhaps the rebuilding Broncos might want to get a draft pick in exchange for Sutton.

Wednesday morning, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler — who used to be ESPN.com’s Steelers beat reporter — added a little spice to that idea, stating “Denver has received several trade calls on (Sutton) but haven’t planned to trade him. Pittsburgh could be a team to watch here.”

A few hours later, word came out from the NFL Network that the contract of Steelers outside linebacker Alex Highsmith had been restructured. That move will open up some cap space. Highsmith converted most of his $10.733 million salary into a signing bonus. It will be spread out over the life of the contract, which runs through 2027.

Via TribLIVE’s Joe Rutter, Highsmith is in the first year of a four-year, $68 million extension he signed last offseason. By converting all but $1.125 million of Highsmith’s salary into a signing bonus, the Steelers will shave $7.2 million off their salary cap this season. The Steelers entered the week with $12 million in cap space.

So perhaps this is a precursor to trying to acquire a veteran wide receiver through a trade. San Francisco’s Brandon Aiyuk has also frequently been linked to the Steelers. Sutton’s salary over the next two years is roughly $13 million each year, but he has just $2 million in guarantees due. His cap number in Denver is $17.3 million this season and $17.8 million next season.

Hearty endorsement

Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith is getting an endorsement from an interesting source: former Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts.

While he was head coach of the Falcons, Smith was often criticized for not using Pitts enough. The No. 4 pick in the 2021 NFL draft has just six touchdowns in his first three seasons. After a 1,026-yard campaign in his rookie year, Pitts has totaled 1,203 yards in 27 games since then.

But according to Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth, Pitts gave Smith a thumbs up.

“Me and Kyle Pitts are close from college and going (into the draft) with each other and pre-draft training. So I texted him, and KP had nothing but good things to say about Coach Smith,” Freiermuth said on “Steelers Afternoon Drive” at SteelersNow.com.

Freiermuth had some good things to say about his first-hand interactions with Smith as well.

”Just being around him early on, you can tell his passion and drive to want to be great and get the offense where it should be,” Freiermuth said. “Everyone’s excited, and it’s been great to begin the install process and get to know the offense, and I think it’s cool because we have all of these new quarterbacks, and it’s cool to install an offense together. Just to kind of bounce ideas and really understand at a base level what Coach wants.”

It’ll be interesting to see how Freiermuth is used in Smith’s offense. More specifically, how he will be used in an offense quarterbacked by Russell Wilson, who doesn’t exactly have a reputation for using the middle of the field very much.

Hopefully, that changes. Because unless the Steelers do swing a trade for a legit No. 2 receiver, Freiermuth is going to be their second best pass-catching option. So Wilson better highlight him.

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Big Ben’s big opinion

If it comes down to the Steelers choosing a center or an offensive tackle in the first round of the draft, Ben Roethlisberger has made his opinion known. The former Steelers quarterback says it should be a center.

Roethlisberger was on WDVE on Wednesday morning and was asked which position is the “bigger deal” to address.

“Center,” Roethlisberger told the ”’DVE Morning Show” without hesitation. “Tackles, sure, they’re protecting your blind side. But you could put tight ends (out there) and help chip. You can do things to help a tackle. A center has to be a guy who’s making your calls. … Your center and quarterback, they have to work together. You saw (Maurkice Pouncey) and I; we just fed off each other. I’m not saying you’re going to find the next Maurkice Pouncey, but I think you’ve got to have that guy because if you’re not on the same page with your center, you’re in trouble.”

Regardless of the holes at wide receiver, Roethlisberger endorsed the idea of going with offensive linemen at both positions over the first two picks.

“You just got two quarterbacks in. You’ve got to protect them. That should be your start,” Roethlisberger said. “It feels like they’ve been trying to rebuild the line, but just in unique ways recently. So I would start with the line — whether there’s a good center or there’s a tackle. Maybe take the first two, I don’t know. It just seems like that’s where you really need help. I know there’s a lot of stuff with receivers and stuff like that, but to me, it starts and stops with the line.”

According to Dane Brugler of The Athletic, there are six or (if you count Washington’s G/T Troy Fautanu) seven tackles that could go in the first round. At the center position, he has Duke’s Graham Barton, Oregon’s Jackson Powers-Johnson and Zach Frazier of West Virginia all ranked within the top 34 prospects.

Something to consider

Florida wide receiver Ricky Pearsall is often linked to the Steelers in the second round of many mock drafts. Pearsall is 24 years old. That’s old for a rookie wide receiver. The Tempe, Ariz. native played at Arizona State for three years, but thanks to a transfer and a covid-extra-eligibility year, Pearsall also played two seasons with the Gators.

Some have wondered if teams might shy away from him because of his age. However, during an episode of “Up And Adams,” Pearsall told host Kay Adams that the Steelers see his age positively.

“They pointed out my age at one point, saying that I’m an experienced player, and they like that about me,” Pearsall said of his meeting with Mike Tomlin and Smith. “A lot of teams, a lot of things that come up with the age thing, it’s like a negative thing. But they took it as a positive thing, which I thought was really cool. And just how skilled of a player I am, top to bottom, when it comes to route running, understanding the game, and so that’s what they were impressed with.”

That makes sense because the Steelers need lots of help at the receiver position. A high-round rookie is going to have to come in and play right away. After George Pickens’ 63 receptions last year, no one else on the roster at the position had more than 20.

Being more experienced should be an attribute the Steelers are looking for in any receiver they select. His polish will also need to shine through, given that he’ll be woven into a system where everyone will be learning on the fly. The quarterbacks, many of the receivers, the offensive coordinator, some of the position coaches, and a few of the linemen are all going to be new as well. As a result, Pearsall won’t have a lot of veterans to lean on for advice and mentorship.

Pearsall told Adams that he has been through five different position coaches and four different coordinators in his college career.

Not to mention, any inherent maturity Pearsall can bring into the room, given the many years of emotional volatility we have seen with that position group in Pittsburgh, would be an added bonus.

Listen: Tim Benz and Matt Williamson discuss the pass-catching talent at receiver and tight end in this year’s NFL Draft