The 2021 NFL season officially came to a close with the Los Angeles Rams’ victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI on Sunday night.
With that, the 2022 offseason is on deck, with what is expected to be a slate full of significant changes for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers are interviewing candidates for a new general manager, have already replaced defensive coordinator Keith Butler with Teryl Austin, and will spend most of the rest of the offseason with the top priority being replacing retired quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
To start the offseason, Steelers Now is taking a look at the state of the team, from free agency, to the salary cap, to the draft, and the current status of the 90-man offseason roster.
Previous installments:
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The Steelers will have the usual seven selections in the 2022 NFL Draft, but they acquired them in far from the usual method. Over the last 50 years, the Steelers have been reticent to make trades, but that’s changed a good deal in the later stages of Kevin Colbert’s tenure as general manager.
As draft picks are the league’s top currency for exchanges, the team’s draft choices have been more mixed up than usual of late.
The Steelers have their own picks in each of the first three rounds, where they’ll be drafting at No. 20, No. 52 and No. 84 overall.
They traded their fourth-round pick to the Miami Dolphins at last year’s draft for the fifth-round pick they used on defensive end Isaiahh Loudermilk. The Steelers sent their fifth-round pick to the New York Jets in the middle of the 2020 season for inside linebacker Avery Williamson, getting the Jets’ seventh-round pick in return. Pittsburgh’s sixth-round pick belongs to the Jacksonville Jaguars, as Colbert traded it for inside linebacker Joe Schobert on the eve of the 2021 season.
The Steelers are projected to get a fourth-round draft pick in return for losing Bud Dupree as a free agent last offseason. They also got a sixth-round pick from the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for Melvin Ingram
Steelers draft order:
Round 1, Pick No. 20
Round 2, Pick No. 52
Round 3, Pick No. 84
Round 4, Pick No. 138 (estimated by Over the Cap)
*compensatory draft pick (Bud Dupree)
Round 6, Pick No. 190 (estimated by Over the Cap)
*acquired from Kansas City Chiefs (Melvin Ingram)
Round 7, Pick No. 223 (estimated by Over the Cap)
*acquired from New York Jets with Avery Williamson (2022 5th Rd)
Round 7, Pick No. 239 (estimated by Over the Cap)
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