While the Pittsburgh Steelers made a few key moves in free agency to improve the roster, they didn’t go on the spending spree that some had hoped for. That leaves the draft as the last chance to upgrade the roster in hopes of a better 2025 season and the elusive first playoff win since the 2016 season.
I have some bad news for those of you expecting big things from this draft haul. According to ESPN’s Bill Barnwell via Football Perspective’s draft value chart, the Steelers have the third-worst total value for the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft.
With the Cleveland Browns in first at 65.0 total value, the Steelers have just 29.5. That’s less than half the total value of their division rival.
Why is their value so low? Part of it has to do with them qualifying for the playoffs and having the No. 21 overall pick of the draft, but the main reason is that they gave up their second-round pick to acquire DK Metcalf from the Seattle Seahawks. Part of that trade was also swapping one of their seventh-round picks for a sixth-round pick, so they managed to get back into the sixth round, where they previously didn’t have a pick.
As it stands now, the Steelers have one selection in every round but the second. The first four of those six picks are the Steelers’ original selections, while the final two are from various trades. Fortunately for the Steelers, those final two picks are towards the beginning of their respective rounds.
What does all this mean for the team? For one, it places tremendous pressure on Omar Khan, Andy Weidl, and the other decision-makers to get the first-round pick right. With no second-round pick, they have to choose both the position and player wisely because they have to wait 62 picks until their next selection in the third round.
Could that inform a safer decision, like possibly going for the best player available regardless of position? Or could it force them to reach for a position of need with fear that one won’t be available in the third round? Defensive line help seems like the most likely direction to go in the first round, but if they address a different position, they could miss out on a player capable of making a year-one impact at a position of need.
They can make up for some of the lost value via trades. The Steelers haven’t traded down in the first round of the draft since 2001, but this would be a logical year to do so. Trading down in the third or fourth round wouldn’t likely net any meaningful bump in overall draft value.
The other option is to trade a player like WR George Pickens. If they can get a second or third-round pick for him, it might be worth considering.
This wouldn’t be the year to attempt to trade up at any point unless they wanted to start pawning off 2026 draft capital to make it happen. A windfall of compensatory draft picks in 2026 could tempt them to trade future picks for current value, but I favor stockpiling 2026 value to hopefully make a move for a quarterback.
In order to walk away with an impactful draft class, the Steelers might need to pop some tags at the thrift shop and walk out of Green Bay with a steal or two in the middle-to-late rounds.
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