This Team Could Be an Ideal Trade Partner for Steelers in the Draft
With the 2025 NFL Draft around the corner, speculation has been running wild on what will happen with highly-touted Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders. Many analysts expect Sanders to not be selected in the top-3, which leaves the New Orleans Saints at No. 9 and the Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 21 as ideal landing spots.
The Steelers could leapfrog the Saints at No. 9 by trading up with the Carolina Panthers at No. 8. Panthers general manager Dan Morgan said he didn’t get any calls after the news broke on Derek Carr’s shoulder injury, despite holding the No. 8 pick, right before the Saints. But it sounds like he’s open to offers.
“I think we’re definitely open to trading back and acquiring more picks,”Morgan said Tuesday in his pre-draft news conference. “I think we’re gonna be open for all possibilities. Let’s put it that way.”
The Steelers traded up from No. 17 to No. 14 to get offensive tackle Broderick Jones in 2023. That was in Omar Khan’s first year as the team’s general manger. Under Kevin Colbert, the Steelers traded up from No. 20 to No. 10 to select linebacker Devin Bush.
The Steelers don’t have a second-round pick, so they don’t have a lot of draft capital. But if they think Sanders is their next franchise quarterback, they could be willing to give up the farm.
“I always look at it like it only takes one team to fall in love with a player,” Morgan said on Tuesday. “A team could fall in love with a player and decide they want to trade up with us and go get their guy. … We’ll be waiting if somebody wants to come up.”
Dan Graziano of ESPN expects the Steelers to trade up to get Sanders, especially if he gets past New Orleans.
“Fact of the matter is, if the Saints like Shedeur Sanders enough to take him at nine, they might have been thinking that anyway with (Derek) Carr only under contract for one more year. But it does leave an air of intrigue to this 10 days ahead of time. If Shedeur Sanders does not go at nine, if he’s still at 10 or in the teens, watch out for the Pittsburgh Steelers at 21 for potential to move up,” Graziano said on ESPN’s SportsCenter. “They had him in for a visit last week. They’re still waiting on an answer from Aaron Rodgers to whom they’ve had an offer out for some time.”
During an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday, Peter Schrager of ESPN revealed some in-depth details about Sanders’ pre-draft visit with the Steelers.
“He had a really good meeting with the Pittsburgh last week, and that lasted like five hours,” Schrager said. “He met with Arthur Smith. He met with Mike Tomlin. He went around the facility. That, to me, seems like a good backstop. If worse comes to worse for Sheduer, 21 would be a really nice place for him to go. It would be a really good situation considering the weapons, the organization, the culture, the city.”
When asked by Kay Adams for a grade on his pre-draft visit with the Steelers, Sanders gave it a 10.
“I enjoyed my time here in Pittsburgh. I think I connected well with all the coaches, and it was real fun,” Sander said on Up & Adams.
He attributed that to the franchise’s culture and said that Mike Tomlin has a lot to do with it.
“What he preaches from his staff down is similar to my dad,” he said.
Shedeur’s father Deion was his head coach throughout college at Jackson State and Colorado. He’s also in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and considered one of the best cornerbacks in the history of the NFL.
Todd McShay of The Ringer is hearing that Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin is very intrigued by Shedeur Sanders.
“I tend to trust where I get this information,” McShay said on The McShay Show. “Mike Tomlin really likes Sheduer. If he’s there at 21, Shedeur could very well be a Pittsburgh Steeler.”