The Pittsburgh Steelers have the opportunity at this year's NFL Draft to do something the organization hasn't done since 1989, make three selections in the top 50. The team owns pick numbers 17, 32 (courtesy of the Chicago Bears), and 49 in 2023, but even though they could get players with all three picks, general manager Omar Khan is not ruling out a possible trade to get an impact player the team wants.
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Troy Polamalu will likely go down in history as the best-ever trade-up for the Steelers.
Khan has been aggressive in his brief tenure at the helm of the franchise. He made a pair of deadline-day trades to ship out Chase Claypool for the aforementioned Bears' pick and sent the Washington Commanders basically nothing to get William Jackson III. The other new face in the front office whose influence could result in a trade-up is former Philadelphia Eagles vice president of player personnel, Andy Wiedl. The Pittsburgh native's fingerprints were all over the free agent signings for Pittsburgh.
During his time with the Eagles, the organization showed that it is not afraid to move some draft capital to get the player they want. Last year, the team jumped up to 13th to select Jordan Davis, a defensive tackle from the University of Georgia. As the new regime sets out to embark on its last month of prep for its first draft, they will be keeping a close eye on how things break and if they need to make a move.
“This is a really good draft and I am fortunate this is my first draft,” Khan said at the annual owners meetings in Arizona via Mark Kaboly of The Athletic. “I love the idea of having a lot of picks, but all options are on the table. If there is an opportunity to trade up to get a player, an impact player that can help us right away or be a longtime Steeler we are going to evaluate it.”
Steelers' former general manager Kevin Colbert said in his final pre-draft conference that the team had done away with doing mock drafts close to a decade ago preferring to focus on just prospects the team wants and not trying to worry about what others are trying to do. This appears to be another spot where Khan and Wiedl are trying to change the thinking in the front office.
“We will be working hard to try to identify other teams ’ needs and trying to figure out what they are doing,” Khan said. “It is our advantage to do that. We will be paying attention.”
Examining The Steelers Scenarios To Trade Up
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Christian Gonzalez of the University of Oregon will be one of the top cornerbacks off the board.
The team seems to be destined to take either a cornerback or an offensive tackle with their first-round pick, but as Kaboly points out they may be out of luck landing one of the top guys at either of those positions.
"The NFL Draft is still a month away, but the reality of the situation is that the Steelers are in real danger of finding themselves in no-man’s-land once the 17th pick is on the clock," he said. "It’s a real possibility that all the top 17-worthy players the Steelers are believed to be interested in are off the board."
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Kelee Ringo (#5) scores a touchdown against Alabama in the 2022 National Championship Game.
The team is without picks in the fifth and sixth rounds due to previous trades, but has all of its 2024 picks and could use some mix of this year's first-round pick, the two seconds, third, or two sevenths to try to make a deal if they don't see a prospect they think will be an impact player for them falling into their laps.
Is there a cornerback or a tackle you would trade up to get? If so, what would you be willing to give up? If not, why? Let us know in the comments or on social media.
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