Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin Didn't Exactly Heed His Own Words Before The NFL Trade Deadline

The Pittsburgh Steelers were thought to be one of the teams interested in making a trade before the NFL's November 4th trade deadline. Wide receiver was the key position that many fans and insiders felt the team may go after. This was especially true after Head Coach Mike Tomlin spoke before the deadline on Tuesday about what good teams do when it comes to upgrading the roster this time of year. 

Below is what Tomlin had to say about teams adding talent as the season rolls along.

"If you're trending in the right direction, if you have a desire to be in this thing as the road gets narrow, usually, you're open to adding talent that can assist you," Tomlin said. "That's something that I think the competitive teams are interested in year in and year out."

Of course, General Manager Omar Khan and Tomlin ultimately decided that it would be best not to strike terms on a trade for another impactful player. The two most significant moves that the team ended up making in the last week or so were a trade for veteran safety Kyle Dugger and a practice squad signing of veteran wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling. At a record of 5-3 overall and with a two-game lead on the second-place Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North, this felt like a golden opportunity for Pittsburgh to go out and get one more key piece for its offense. Instead, the team decided to hold onto its late-round picks. 

While draft picks are nice and certainly can be very valuable, this current Steelers team has a chance to not only make the playoffs, but also win some playoff games. While future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers (103.1 passer rating) has been playing strong football at 41 years of age, why wouldn't you want to help him out as much as possible? Adding a key receiver such as Jaylen Waddle or Jakobi Meyers could have really helped this offense open up the playbook. Instead, Tomlin decided to walk back his press conference answer and not make any major trades. Of course, numerous reports and multiple sources confirmed that the Steelers made several calls, but ultimately, the costs were seemingly too high for Pittsburgh to pull the trigger.

Are The Current 2025 Steelers Good Enough To Contend As Is?

Unless Khan, Tomlin, and co. make a couple of extra free agent signings down the road, this is the roster for the rest of the way. In its current form, can it make the playoffs and potentially win some games? Judging by the first half of the season, yes. 

Among Pittsburgh's five wins are two victories over the seven-win Indianapolis Colts and the seven-win New England Patriots. Those are two of the most impressive wins in the AFC. While the offense hasn't been legendary, it has been good enough when it has had to be (25.0 PPG). Rodgers is tied for third in the league in touchdown passes (17) and looks like his old Green Bay self. Perhaps the reason why Khan and Tomlin didn't trade for another wide receiver is that they feel like they already have enough pass-catchers. In back-to-back weeks, Rodgers has found nine different receivers. If the ball can continue to get spread around like that, especially as the weather gets even colder, opposing defenses might want to look out.

Khan and Tomlin also did not add any defensive help at the deadline. After forcing the league's top offense in Indianapolis into six turnovers, could you blame them? Why give away key draft picks when your defense can play like that? The key for Defensive Coordinator Teryl Austin's unit is to just be consistent moving forward. Otherwise, there will be more pressure put on Rodgers and the offense.

So, even though Tomlin said what he said in the presser ahead of the trade deadline, sometimes the right opportunity just doesn't present itself. This team knows how well it can play. They have shown it more often than not. Now, it is time to go do it without the help of a trade. 

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