Though we have and will continue to pour over Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert’s words from their press conference today, we all can recognize one thing. They said a lot of words but didn’t give much information. You know how it works. It’s how they conduct business and if anything, the team has been more close to the vest over the past two seasons.
So if there’s one claim to take away from the draft, a piece of information that wasn’t coach-speak or a global philosophy, it was Colbert’s announcement the Pittsburgh Steelers are unlikely to trade up this year.
“Trading up will be unlikely We just don’t have enough picks, as far down as we are. It’s always expensive,” were the general manager’s opening remarks.
There’s nothing incredibly surprising about this, especially in a draft where Colbert admitted there aren’t as many dynamic players. Not one player screams someone to be traded up for, and though a lack of top-end talent exists, the overall depth is strong. All the more reason to stay put and see who falls to Pittsburgh.
Colbert always tosses out this line but expressed interest in trading back in the right scenario. Some have speculated a move back to 31 makes sense should the Denver Broncos make a play to trade up for a quarterback. The Broncos have ten picks this season, including two third rounders.
A deal revolving around their original 94th pick – their other is a compensatory and can’t be traded – makes a lot of sense. Denver can move up, trade away their third, and experience little drop off knowing they pick four spots late. Of course, additional picks will likely be involved but that’s a nice framework to begin with.
However, don’t anticipate the Steelers trading out of the first round. Not only has it never happened under Colbert, the last time the team went without a first round pick was in 1967, two years before Chuck Noll’s arrival.
