The idea of trading back is something that the Pittsburgh Steelers could easily find attractive in the 2024 NFL Draft. But it takes two to tango. Reportedly, the Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions, Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals might be teams looking to come up on the board. But according to Jordan Reid of ESPN, the Washington Commanders want to come up from the second round for an offensive tackle. They hold the 36th and 40th overall picks.
“I think this is the worst kept secret in the draft right now — is the Commanders trading up from 36 or 40 to get an offensive tackle,” Reid said. “It just makes so much sense for them to trade up and take advantage of this deep OL class. I just don’t see Adam Peters having so many picks and just waiting to 36 or 40 for one of those guys to fall to him.”
That would be a long fallback for the Steelers. But it could also hurt them. Whether the Commanders leapfrog them at 20th overall or, in a trade-back scenario, come up and take the tackle that the Steelers would want, all of those are distinct possibilities with this scenario.
But there are other teams the Steelers could do business with the draft. Bill Barnwell proposed a deal for the Steelers to make with the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday, believing that a four-spot move back could help Pittsburgh.
The deal has Pittsburgh moving the No. 20 and No. 119 picks for No. 24, No. 87, and No. 174. Pittsburgh would pick up another third-round pick and add a fifth-round pick, which they do not have.
“The Steelers could stand to add another offensive lineman, but they would probably be looking toward tackle as opposed to guard. This wasn’t a deep team a year ago, and the days when they had homegrown talent waiting to burst through the ranks up and down the roster appear to be in the past. I’d like to see Pittsburgh add more depth across the board with this draft, and Mike Tomlin’s team would have five top-100 picks if it did this deal,” Barnwell writes.
The offensive line portion could lead to murky waters. Dallas needs one and so do the Dolphins and Eagles ahead of the Steelers. That is similar to the scenario with Detroit. The Lions could be fishing in the same waters as the Steelers and want to land Graham Barton, Jackson Powers-Johnson, or Zach Frazier. But if they want to come up for a cornerback, and that is not the position the Steelers look at as the best value for their first-round pick, a trade-back makes lots of sense. Detroit holds a second-round pick, too, so if Pittsburgh wants to pull off a trade, that makes sense. Also holding 73rd overall pick, Detroit has another day two pick to work with in that scenario.
For other partners, Arizona holds the No. 4 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and the No. 27 pick in the class, and they may want to move up from the No. 27 overall pick with a litany of day two picks at their disposal to make it happen. Pittsburgh might be the team that could let it happen, too.
Another team that made sense was the Buffalo Bills, and they could be a team that looks to come up for a wide receiver like Brian Thomas Jr. Depending on who’s on the board, it seems like this year’s draft could be a perfect opportunity for the Steelers to trade down for the first time in the draft since selecting Casey Hampton in 2001. The Steelers just have so many needs — wide receiver, center, offensive tackle and slot cornerback. Those four feel like the obvious top four needs and could be classified as positions they have to draft in some respects.