The Steelers have 12 selections in a draft in 26 in which they have virtually no shot at a franchise quarterback. That’s one of the major reasons everybody seems to expect them to try something with their bounty. It’s not exactly the norm for them, but there is some precedent, even if it came some time ago.
“As of right now, if you really want to load up and try to get those future picks, teams are really unwilling to”, Ray Fittipaldo said on the North Short Drive podcast. “Omar Khan, I think, is gonna be trying to trade back into next year’s draft. I think it’s only natural that he would want to do that. He did a great job this past offseason of accumulating picks for the potential of drafting a quarterback this year”.
“It only stands to reason he’s going to be looking to do the same thing this coming year, as well”.
Under GM Kevin Colbert, the Steelers never traded into a future year’s draft from the current year’s draft. They have, of course, accumulated future picks for players after a draft has taken place. To find the last trade of current picks for future picks, though, you have to go a while back.
In 1999, the Steelers traded two 1999 fifth-round draft picks for a third-round pick in 2000. They ended up using that draft pick on CB Hank Poteat, who had a 10-year NFL career—though mostly as a backup, and mostly elsewhere than Pittsburgh. In fact, he played three seasons here and never started a game. He didn’t record an interception until he was 30 years old.
Trading into future drafts is something many general managers talk about, but relatively few successfully manage. The Steelers have gone the other way twice under Colbert, trading a future pick for a current pick. In 2013, they traded a 2014 fourth-round pick for a 2013 third-round pick to draft Shamarko Thomas. In 2021, they traded a 2022 fourth-round pick for a 2021 fifth-round pick to draft Isaiahh Loudermilk.
Historically, future draft picks are weighted higher, as you might have noticed. In fact, Ravens GM Eric DeCosta has fantasized about a scenario in which he systematically trades a seventh-round pick up to a first-round pick over time. Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti calls it the “Reign of Terror”, because why not give it a silly name? I wonder what the Steelers call it when they trade a future draft pick away for an underperforming current player.
Some theorize that there will be an inordinate number of teams trying to trade into the 2027 NFL Draft. That’s rooted in the notion that it will have a much stronger quarterback class. The Steelers last year tried to stockpile draft picks in the hopes of drafting a quarterback this year. That didn’t work out as planned, however. But they still have those extra draft picks, and are unlikely to draft 12 players. If a team offers a second-round pick in 2027 for one of their third-round picks, how could they say no?