Go Holmes!

According to reports, the Steelers have traded wide receiver Santonio Holmes to the New York Jets for a 5th round draft pick and possibly running back Leon Washington.

Wow! I heard about this via text messages from my friends and brother last night and I was pretty angry. A 5th round pick for the mvp of Super Bowl XXLIII? A 5th round pick for the guy who made one of the biggest receptions in the history of the franchise? A 5th round pick for their number 1 receiver who they traded up to draft in the first round in 2006?

When I thought about it, though, I guess I should have seen it coming. In case you didn't hear, Holmes is expected to be suspended for the first four games of the upcoming season for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy. You add that to all the other Santonio messes: the pending lawsuit and possible criminal case in Orlando, the stupid and immature twitters he has posted since this lawsuit came to light, and his previous brushes with the law like being busted for marijuana possession, maybe the Steelers had no choice but to send him packing to anyone who would take him for anything.

And Holmes will be going into the last year of his contract and rumors had it that he wasn't going to resign with the Steelers because he didn't think Pittsburgh would pay him market value and he wanted to play in a bigger market, so maybe from a pure business standpoint this had to be done.

Still though, you'd have to think they could have received a little better compensation for Holmes. A 5th round pick seems pretty low. But if Washington is part of the trade, that would ease the pain just a little.

Washington is a great kick and punt returner and he would add depth to the Steelers backfield especially after losing Willie Parker via free agency.

What's going to happen with the Steelers wide receiver situation now? Number one receivers don't grow on trees. Does this mean that Hines Ward will be the number one guy again? He's not a speed-burner and has never been considered a deep-threat. And at his age, he'd be better suited as a possession guy.

Maybe they're counting on Mike Wallace to be the new number one. He certainly had a great rookie season in '09 and in my opinion should have been the rookie of the year. Hopefully, he can step up and have an even better second year.

They also brought back SBXL hero Atwaan Randle El to compete for the number 3 receiver slot. Now it looks like he's in serious consideration for the number 2 slot.

He became the defacto number 2 receiver in 2005 after Plaxico Burress left to sign with the New York Giants and the Steelers went on to win Super Bowl XL with the help of El's spectacular option pass for the ages. Maybe they can repeat history.

Also, this could give Limas Sweed one more shot at becoming a relevant receiver. Everyone was excited when the Steelers grabbed Sweed in the second round in 2008 but ever since then, he's been nothing but a disappointment. If they haven't completely given up on him by this point, this could be his last chance to succeed with the Steelers.

And with the draft a couple of weeks away, does this mean that the team will bypass other needs for another wide receiver in the first round?

Maybe Golden Tate will be wearing the Black and Gold next season.

I hope Holmes gets his act together and does ok in New York. I actually like Holmes despite him acting like an idiot a lot of times. As I said, he did make the greatest catch in team history aside from the Immaculate Reception and he'll forever be a part of Steelers lore.

And in addition to the reception in the Super Bowl, he had one heck of a run in the postseason to help get them to that game. He had the big punt return in the divisional playoffs against the Chargers and the huge catch and touchdown run against the Ravens in the AFC title game. If it wasn't for him, Pittsburgh might not be boasting a record six Lombardi trophies today.

I just can't believe this offseason. What's going to happen next?