Jan 30, 2016 5 min read

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The Steelers have had a great deal of good fortune selecting wide receivers in the draft in recent years, all but making fans forget about the issues they had at the position at one point when picks were blown on guys such as Fred Gibson, Danny Farmer and Limas Sweed.

They also have had plenty of success taking tight ends and turning them into long-time contributors.

But the team also sits at a crossroads of sorts at both positions.

Here’s a look at where the team sits coming out of the 2015 season:

Guys under contract: Antonio Brown; Heath Miller; Matt Spaeth; Markus Wheaton; Martavis Bryant; Sammie Coates; Jesse James; Eli Rogers; Xavier Grimble; Shakim Phillips

Brown has had team record-setting seasons in each of the past two years and at 27, still seems to be getting better. He is practically uncoverable if officials call things even remotely the way they are supposed to be when it comes to clutching a grabbing downfield. The Steelers moved $2 million of his salary for 2016 to 2015, which means he’s making just $6.25 in 2016. That’s less than half what guys such as Calvin Johnson and Julio Jones make. With two seasons remaining on his current deal, the Steelers don’t have to do anything with Brown’s contract. But they’ll likely do something. As team president Art Rooney said this week, they want Brown to be part of the team for a long time. And given his style of play and the way he takes care of himself, there’s no reason to think he’s going to have a dropoff anytime soon.

The same cannot be said of Miller, the team’s starting tight end since 2005. Miller’s still a valuable player. He finished second on the team with 60 receptions this year though his 8.9 yards per catch average was easily the worst of his career. Miller’s 592 career catches are 69th in NFL history, a surprising number for a guy who has never had more than 76 catches in one season. But that speaks to Miller’s steadiness. He’ll be 34 next season, however, and is entering his final season under contract. Finding a long-term replacement is a must.

Can that player be James? Perhaps. He’s got good size, hands and decent speed. He’s also a willing blocker. But James seems to me to be an upgraded, younger version of Spaeth than anything – a solid No. 2 who can be a No. 1 in a pinch.

Wheaton had his ups and downs in 2015, disappearing at times. But much of that comes from being a guy playing opposite Brown, who sees 10-15 targets per game. When you’re only getting three or four passes thrown your way each game, it magnifies things when you don’t make the catch. He’s still a solid receiver and a decent blocker in the run game.

Bryant and Coates will be tied together in the long term after head coach Mike Tomlin admitted the Steelers selected Coates in the third round of last year’s draft when it was learned Bryant was facing a four-game suspension to open the season for a failed drug test. Another failed test for Bryant would result in a year’s suspension and the team took Coates as insurane if that happened.

Bryant seems to have gotten his head straight and he’s a game-changer at the position but he also needed a kick in the pants from Ben Roethlisberger and Brown in December when he tailed off. Part of the reason for that was because teams took the deep pass away by playing the safeties 20 to 25 yards off the line of scrimmage. A healthy Le’Veon Bell will help that. While Miller was the underneath option most of the time when opponents used that defense in 2015, he wasn’t a threat to break anything. Bell is capable of working the middle of the field underneath the safeties and turning a 10-yard catch into a 30-yarder, something that could keep opponents from employing that defense as much in 2016.

Coates didn’t do much during the regular season but made a couple of plays in the postseason at Denver when Brown was out with a concussion. Rogers and Phillips will be given a shot to be the No. 5 or 6 guys again next season, while Grimble, who spent the season on the practice squad as well, could surprise. He showed good hands and speed on the practice squad.

Free agents: Darrius Heyward-Bey; David Nelson

Heyward-Bey turned into a nice signing for the Steelers. He’s the kind of role player that good teams need, one willing to swallow his pride and do a lot of the dirty work, whether that means blocking or playing special teams. He also made some nice contributions in the passing game when Bryant was suspended. Heyward-Bey was the team’s best run-blocking receiver, which is why he continued to see action after Bryant returned. It wouldn’t surprise me if the team made a run at re-signing him to a two-year deal on the cheap if possible. Nelson was signed in training camp when the team was dealing with injuries at the receiver position. He prompty got hurt himself. Given how things progressed during the season, I don’t expect Nelson back.

FA targets: None, other than possibly re-signing Heyward-Bey.