What needs to take place for the Steelers to have a Draft Day trade

Around draft time, fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who traditionally select in the back half of the draft process, scream for a draft day trade.

"They should trade up!" or "They should trade down!"

Easier said than done. There are a lot of criteria which come into play before a trade takes place during the NFL Draft.

The Steelers rarely trade their draft picks away, and can you blame them? The team is historically one of the better drafting teams in the Kevin Colbert era. No, I’m not suggesting the team hasn’t had their share of duds since Colbert took over as the General Manager, but compare him to his counterparts around the league and you’ll be quite happy with the work he has done in the Steel City.

Now, what needs to take place for the Steelers to trade their draft pick? Well, it depends if you want the team to trade up or down. Here is the criteria I always use when talking about trading draft picks, and it is rare all of these pieces fall into place, hence why the team rarely trades high draft picks.

Trade Up:

• Have to find a willing trade partner (sometimes division or conference can interfere with this.)
• Prospect can’t be a project, but a guaranteed stud.
• Cost must match the prospect

Trade Down:

• Need to find a team who wants to jump back into the first round to get another prospect.
• Steelers must look at their draft board and not see any prospect who they don’t feel is worthy of a first round reach.
• Must benefit with high picks as compensation.

Again, a lot needs to take place, and although draft day trades make for great television, the Steelers sticking with their own picks is fine by me.

I discuss this more in the latest BTSC podcast “Steelers Hangout” above. Give it a listen in the player above, and follow all of the BTSC podcasts on iTunes by searching "The Standard is the Standard", as well as on several podcast apps for Android users.

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