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The Pittsburgh Steelers have a history of making draft day trades in the NFL Draft. They traded up to select Troy Polamalu out of USC, and did the same to take Santonio Holmes out of Ohio State. Both were during the Kevin Colbert era, and even while trades haven’t been the team’s M.O. as of late, it doesn’t mean they aren’t open to potential trades.
This from Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette during the yearly press conference held by Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert prior to the NFL Draft:
Colbert: As they do annually, will contact most every team to see if they want to trade up or down in the draft.
— Ed Bouchette (@EdBouchette) April 23, 2018
Steelers' Colbert: "We've traded up in the first round in the past, we've traded down. We're open to both"
— Ed Bouchette (@EdBouchette) April 23, 2018
While the prospect of trading up in the draft to get a high profile player may be enticing, the more realistic scenario would be the Steelers trading back in the draft to gain more draft picks.
For this to happen, several different aspects need to fall into place. First, a team who is targeting a specific player will have the desire to get back into the first round. Second, the Steelers will need to give up their 28th pick in the first round, which means there aren’t any prospects on the board which they covet more than a trade. Lastly, the deal has to be sweet enough to entice the Steelers. Pittsburgh is currently without a 4th and 6th round draft pick, and you better believe they would love to get a 4th round pick out of the trade. So, if a team is willing to give them a 2nd and 4th round pick, the Steelers would walk away with two 2nd round selections, and jump into the 4th round. Not ideal, but something to keep an eye on throughout the draft day madness.
Will these events take place? It is doubtful, but if you’ve followed the NFL Draft for any amount of time you know how anything is possible.