New footage from the New York Giants’ 2025 NFL Draft documentary shows the Pittsburgh Steelers were actively trying to trade back.
Giants general manager Joe Schoen tried to trade up with the Denver Broncos at No. 20, but had intel the Steelers were likely going to take a defensive player or move back.
At one point in the night, Steelers general manager Omar Khan can be seen actively talking to Schoen about moving back, which eased any tension that the Steelers would be going quarterback.
The Giants ended up moving to No. 25 to take Jaxson Dart, but at one point, Schoen remarks that he could ‘offer the same deal’ to Pittsburgh that he would offer the Los Angeles Chargers at No. 22, implying there were talks taking place.
However, the Steelers did not trade back due to Derrick Harmon falling right into their lap. Head coach Mike Tomlin and Khan each said they would not move away from certain players, and Harmon was one of those guys.
“Obviously we do. We were working the phones, several picks before ours. You listen. You have to. We owe it to ourselves to listen, and you don’t know how it’s goingto shake out five or six picks ahead. You listen and weigh things, but at the end of the day, he was one of those players we were not going to trade away from,” Khan said.
Instead, the Steelers sat at their picks and made selections aside from a short trade back in the fifth round that netted them an extra seventh-round pick.
The Steelers have not traded back in the first round of the NFL Draft since 2001 when they did so and selected Casey Hampton.