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The Pittsburgh Steelers are on their bye week, but other NFL teams are making moves around the league. With the NFL trade deadline set for October 29th, you would have thought the deadline was October 15th with the moves that were made.
But these weren’t just standard transactions, they were blockbuster deals which will have a direct impact on the black-and-gold as early as Week 10.
The first, and biggest, trade was the Los Angeles Rams acquiring cornerback Jaylen Ramsey for two first round picks. With Ramsey leaving the Jacksonville Jaguars, he will be a part of a Rams defense who will invade Heinz Field in Week 10.
But the Rams weren’t done with the trades. Just when you thought the duo of Marcus Peters and Jaylen Ramsey would be nasty enough, the Rams shipped Peters to the Baltimore Ravens for draft picks and linebacker Kenny Young. Everyone reading this site knows exactly what the Ravens have to do with the regular season future of the Steelers.
These trades just go to show how fast things can change in the NFL. Steelers fans should know this all too well considering their favorite team was one of several who have shipped a first round draft pick via trade to acquire talent. This was obviously done when the Steelers traded their first round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft to the Miami Dolphins for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
How much will Ramsey and/or Peters impact the Steelers? Ramsey is an elite cornerback in the league and fully capable of taking away your best receiver. With the Steelers’ lack of depth at the receiver position you know the acquisition of Ramsey will make it extremely difficult on the Steelers in many ways in Week 10.
As for Peters, the Steelers won’t face the Ravens again until the regular season finale in Week 17 at M&T Bank Stadium. While Peters is a tremendous cornerback, the Steelers can only hope that game is meaningful to their postseason hopes. This would mean the team has resurrected their once dead season and became a playoff contender.
Trades are happening more and more in the NFL, and the Steelers will have to deal with two defensive backs moving forward on teams that acquired that talent via trade.