With Asking Price High, Steelers Not Expected to Trade Chase Claypool

The Pittsburgh Steelers are not expected to trade wide receiver Chase Claypool before the Nov. 1 trading deadline, according to a report by Adam Schefter of ESPN.

Claypool had been repeatedly mentioned in trade rumors, especially in connection with the Green Bay Packers, but the with the Steelers apparently asking a very high price to part with the third-year receiver.

Steelers Now confirmed that the Steelers would need a package approaching what the Carolina Panthers got for star running back Christian McCaffrey in order to trade Claypool. McCaffrey netted Carolina a second, third, fourth and fifth-round draft pick from the San Francisco 49ers.

The NFL market for wide receivers has been on fire since the start of this offseason and does not seem to be slowing down any time soon, but it’s not believed that Green Bay or any other team is likely to answer the Steelers asking price for Claypool at this juncture.

Claypool is under contract to the Steelers through March 2024, at a reasonable rate for his production. Through 37 career games, he has 1,958 yards and 12 touchdowns. He is set to make $1.2 million this season and $1.5 million next season.

He told Steelers Now this week that he is doing his best to ignore the trade speculation, but that even he has heard the rumors surrounding his future.

“I don’t really look into that stuff,” Claypool said. “It’s just noise until it happens. … “If they want me, they’ll keep me. If they don’t want me, they’ll get rid of me. It’s that simple.”

Claypool is coming off his best game of the season, a seven-catch, 96-yard performance in the Steelers’ Week 6 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He became the first (and so far only) Steelers wide receiver to catch a touchdown pass this season in that game.

The Steelers have two more games before the trade deadline, Sunday night against the Miami Dolphins and Oct. 30 at the Philadelphia Eagles.