By admin 
Mike Williams struggled to bond with Aaron Rodgers with the New York Jets.
The Pittsburgh Steelers believe the veteran wide receiver will be a great fit for Russell Wilson and their offense.
The teams announced Tuesday that the Jets agreed to trade Williams to the Steelers for a fifth-round pick in next year’s draft, pending a physical examination.
Williams struggled with production and built an on-court bond with Rodgers in his first season with New York. He became expendable when the Jets acquired Davante Adams from Las Vegas last month.
Williams, who signed a one-year, $10 million contract with New York as a free agent this offseason, had just 12 catches for 166 yards in nine games with the Jets. He had just six yards receiving on just two targets in his last two games.
He heads from the struggling Jets (3-6) to the first-place Steelers (6-2), who have been looking to add to George Pickens’ top position for months.
“Mike is a good guy,” Rodgers said during his weekly appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” just as news of the trade was reported. ‘He will be good in that dressing room. … He’s had a great career, and sometimes a change of scenery is great for certain guys. It was great for me to get excited again and all that.
“We actually knew that with the arrival of Davante there would be fewer goals for everyone.”
The addition of Williams also gives the Steelers a big target in the red zone for Wilson, along with Pickens and tight end Pat Freiermuth. While Van Jefferson and Calvin Austin III have seen their production increase since Wilson returned after missing the first six games with a calf injury, both lack Williams’ size and resume.
“If this gives Mike more opportunities, that’s great,” Rodgers said. “We wish Mike the best.”
The 6-foot-1 Williams spent his first seven NFL seasons with the Chargers, for whom he caught 309 passes for 4,806 yards and 31 touchdowns. He tore the ACL in his right knee in Week 3 last year and missed the rest of the season. The Jets slowly brought in Williams throughout the offseason and in training camp, but Rodgers never seemed to click when he took the field.
“Mike is a quiet guy who just goes about his business,” Rodgers said. “Mike had a serious injury last year, a cruciate ligament. That’s hard to come back from and he worked his butt off last season. He was not often at training camp and worked on the side. But I felt like he got better at the beginning of the season. I felt like his speed was getting better and he was starting to feel more comfortable with it.”
In New York’s 23-20 loss to Buffalo on October 14, Rodgers threw to Williams in the final few minutes but was intercepted when Taron Johnson intercepted the pass that fell short to Williams, sealing the loss for the Jets. Rodgers later said that Williams had taken the wrong route. The wide receiver said he wasn’t bothered by the quarterback’s criticism and said the two talked about it.
But Williams subsequently became the subject of trade rumors, especially after spending the first two days of practice that week for what the Jets said were “personal reasons.”
Six days after New York’s loss to Buffalo, Williams caught a 15-yard pass in a 37-15 loss at Pittsburgh. And now he plays for those Steelers.
Pittsburgh has been looking for another outside receiver to pair opposite Pickens since the team traded Diontae Johnson to Carolina this offseason. The Steelers missed Brandon Aiyuk — who opted to stay in San Francisco — and were unable to land Adams or DeAndre Hopkins when both became available.
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin acknowledged that the team wanted to upgrade its roster overall for the long term, but also made a point to recognize the increase in the quality of play from Austin and Jefferson.
“I just feel like we have a group that works hard and is capable and can’t wait to show the football world those capabilities,” Tomlin said Tuesday shortly before the trade. “And every time we enter a stadium, they get the opportunity to do that. And you have already seen a number of examples of that.”
Just not enough to resist the opportunity to land Williams at a relatively low cost.
This move actually leaves the Jets a bit short at wide receiver. New York still has starters Adams and Garrett Wilson, along with backups Xavier Gipson, special teamer Irvin Charles and rookie Malachi Corley, who are first NFL touchdown run destroyed last Thursday night against Houston when he dropped the ball before crossing the goal line.
Allen Lazard, who had 30 receptions for 412 yards and is tied with Wilson for the team lead with five touchdown catches, and is on IR with a pectoral injury.
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AP Sports Writer Will Graves contributed to this report.
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