Will the Steelers use any draft picks to trade for talent?
The Steelers enter the new league year with 12 draft picks. But nobody really expects them to draft 12 players, so what about a trade? With a new coaching staff, we’re already seeing some change in personnel, as the Steelers are releasing some excess baggage. But there will be veterans available who the new coaches believe are a better fit for what they want to do.
And if the Steelers have the ammunition in draft picks to pull off a trade, it makes sense to. They might not want to trade for a bunch of older players, as they have in recent years, though. We saw how Jonnu Smith worked out, and I don’t think Jalen Ramsey panned out exactly as planned, either.
The reason the Steelers accumulated draft picks, largely through trades last year, was to draft a franchise quarterback. With that seeming increasingly unlikely, those excess picks could serve other purposes.
But what the Steelers could do with those draft picks, instead of adding and adding, is trade into the 2027 draft. It’s something a lot of teams think about and talk about, but rarely do. The 2027 quarterback class is supposed to be better, and future draft picks earn a premium. Multiple times, for example, the Steelers have traded a higher future draft pick for a lower present-year pick. They did that for Shamarko Thomas, and again for Isaiahh Loudermilk, so they know how it works.
Last year, the Steelers were very conscious about protecting their draft picks, though they traded some away in the Ramsey and Smith deal and for Kyle Dugger, the latter a pick swap. Knowing that they likely won’t have to trade up for any of these quarterbacks, perhaps they should focus on 2027. They won’t be seeing big compensatory pick windfalls, so trading into next year, or trading talent, is the only way to do it.
The Steelers exited the playoffs in the first round yet again, a pattern going back to 2017.With seven consecutive postseason losses and no wins in nearly a decade, they are facing another long, long offseason. No doubt we will see many changes, but none will top Mike Tomlin’s resignation.
The NFL has crowned its latest champion, but for the Steelers and us, we have been in offseason mode. That’s what happens when the team you coverloses by the middle of January all the time, but you’ve been around, so you know that already. Enjoy the ride, even the turbulence, because it’s the only way we know how to travel anymore.
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