The Pittsburgh Steelers could trade up in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft to secure one of the top tackle prospects, and they’ve had conversations with at least one team about doing so, according to E.J. Snyder of Windy City Gridiron and Bootleg Football.
Snyder, who covers the Chicago Bears, said that there have been discussions between the Bears and Steelers about a trade involving Chicago’s ninth overall draft pick and the Steelers’ first pick at No. 17 overall.
“Bears-Steelers is possible,” Snyder said in a live stream on his Youtube page on Monday. “They’ve talked about it. I know they’ve talked about it. It’s by no means assured. Trust me, every team is talking to every team. … It’s not any sort of indicator that’s bound to happen. They have had that discussion.”
The Steelers would most likely be looking to trade up in order to get one of the top tackles in the 2023 NFL Draft class. Though the chances of them getting one of the top three players seems to improving, the Steelers could have a preference between Peter Skoronski, Paris Johnson Jr. and Broderick Jones.
“The most likely connect-the-dots moment is that Pittsburgh needs an offensive tackle and they go up for one because there’s one they like that will be gone by the time they pick at 17,” Snyder said.
The Steelers have already made one deal with the Bears between new Pittsburgh GM Omar Khan and new Bears GM Ryan Poles, and they could be in a good position to make another.
“Poles knows he needs a lot of players and moving down from nine to 17 gets him a good one plus some additional picks, whatever they negotiate,” Snyder said. “There is an example of how it works for both sides.”
What would such a move cost for the Steelers? According to the DraftTek trade value chart, the Steelers would need to trade picks No. 17 and 49 to Chicago for pick No. 9, with the potential for the Steelers adding a late-round or future pick on the back end of the trade.
The difference between the two pick is 400 trade value points. Pick No. 49 is worth 410 points. The 10-point difference would typically mean a sixth-round pick, but Chicago does not have one of those in 2023.