Former Steelers Player Thinks Team Should ‘Sell the Farm’ for Shedeur Sanders
Former Pittsburgh Steelers free safety Ryan Clark reiterated that Pittsburgh should trade up for highly-touted Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders. Clark thinks the Steelers need to do everything in their power to land Sanders, even if it means giving up a boatload of draft picks.
It was reported on Tuesday that Sanders will be in Pittsburgh on Thursday for a pre-draft visit.
“If Shedeur Sanders does happen to slip past number nine and you have the opportunity to move up. If the Saints and Kellen Moore decide to go a different route, make it happen Omar Khan,” Clark said on ESPN’s NFL Live. “Sell the farm. Sell Mel Blount’s farm and his ranch. Sell his horses, and let’s go get Shedeur Sanders.”
As mentioned, this is not the first time that Clark expressed that he wants Sanders in the Black and Gold. He thinks Omar Khan needs to continue to be aggressive.
“I think that move would be something that makes sense for Omar Khan,” Clark said on ESPN’s NFL Live last month. “Omar Khan has worked the general manager like no one has ever has. He’s been aggressive. You go out, and you get DK Metcalf to add to George Pickens and Pat Freiermuth. I think this is what you have to do.”
The Steelers are in perplexing quarterback situation right now. If Aaron Rodgers ends up retiring, the Steelers would be left with only Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson as their quarterbacks.
The free agent quarterback market is pretty dried up now, too, so the Steelers might have to turn to the draft. Matt Miller of ESPN also thinks it would be a wise move for Pittsburgh to trade up for Sanders.
“Can we rule out the Pittsburgh Steelers? Miller said on ESPN’s NFL Live on Thursday. “I remember not that long ago, Pittsburgh traded up to 10 (overall) to take an inside linebacker. Pittsburgh will be aggressive at times. Now going from 21 (overall) to 4, it’s going to be expensive. That’s gonna be costly. Mike Tomlin has his team in the playoffs every year, right? If you view this as this is an inexpensive year to move up the board. We love Shedeur. (He) can walk right into this building. He can be that option for us with these two big receivers on the outside, a pretty good run game. I think Pittsburgh would be a team that you would have to keep your eye on. Cam Heyward just said it, ‘This is the Pittsburgh Steelers, we’re in this thing every year.’ For Shedeur Sanders, that’s a dream landing spot because of what they have on defense and those two big playmaking wide receivers that they have.”
Sanders, 23, is viewed as the second best quarterback in the 2025 NFL Draft, only behind Miami’s Cam Ward. But it remains to be seen where he will go. Some believe he could go as high as No. 2 and others think he could go late in the first round.
However, the latter feels very unlikely, especially after throwing for 7,364 yards, 64 touchdowns and 13 interceptions over the past two years at Colorado.
Sanders also has NFL bloodlines as the son of Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders. That is something the quarterback-needy Steelers have looked for in the past, but it’s unlikely they’ll be willing to pay the steep price it will take to move up into the top 10.
The Steelers did not send most of the top brass to Boulder for the Colorado pro day last week, which apparently showed either a lack of interest in Sanders or a lack of faith in their ability to land him.
But maybe that won’t be the case now that the consensus No. 2 quarterback prospect in the class is coming to Pittsburgh.
Sanders led the entire NCAA in completion percentage in 2024, with 74% of his attempts landing in the hands of one of his receivers. He also led the notoriously pass-happy Big 12 in completions (353), yards (4,134), yards per attempt (8.7), touchdowns (37) and passer rating (168.2).
Sanders finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting, was the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award as the nation’s best upperclassman quarterback.
In addition to Sanders, Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart and Louisville’s Tyler Shough have pre-draft visits to Pittsburgh. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and general manager Omar Khan were at the pro days of Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, Texas’ Quinn Ewers, Ohio State’s Will Howard and Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard.
Alan Saunders contributed reporting for this story.