The Pittsburgh Steelers have five of the first 100 picks in the 2026 NFL Draft, presenting a major opportunity to swing big and add some high-end talent to an aging roster.
Three of those picks sit in the third round at No. 76, No. 85 and No. 99 overall.
With a number of roster holes, the Steelers, under GM Omar Khan and assistant GM Andy Weidl, could use those three third-round picks to address key needs.
Longtime Steelers beat writer Mark Kaboly doesn’t believe that will be the case. In fact, Kaboly sees the Steelers trading one of those third rounders for 2027 draft capital.
“I can pretty much assure you that they aren’t using all three of those third-round picks,” Kaboly wrote Thursday morning in a mailbag on X. “Moving one of them would probably add value because it wouldn’t be a one-for-one swap, but having the most ammo they can have for next year’s quarterback draft class is their goal.”
On the surface, that makes some sense. Pittsburgh is not projected to receive any compensatory picks for the 2027 NFL Draft so that limits the amount of draft capital they’ll have next year.
Pittsburgh played the compensatory-picks game last offseason to gear up for this year’s draft, which had plenty of promise in the QB class. But then players regressed on the field and the class fell off in general at the position, and now Pittsburgh’s in a tough spot.
Of course, Pittsburgh could use some of those third-round picks this year to move into the second round, or even into the back end of the first round, to land a QB they like, say Alabama’s Ty Simpson if he falls, for example.
But based on what Kaboly believes, Khan and Weidl could flip some of those thirds and gain some draft capital for 2027. That would position themselves to potentially be aggressive in next year’s draft, which some, like Todd McShay, are calling one of the best QB classes ever.
One thing is clear: Khan and the Steelers have options with so many draft picks. It could — and should — be a busy three days in late April for the Steelers.