With the 2017 NFL Draft now just a little more than 24 hours away from getting underway in Philadelphia, there’s a lot of fans wondering if the Pittsburgh Steelers will ultimately participate in any trades during the annual college selection event.
During his Monday pre-draft press conference, Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert, as usual, made it clear that the team is open to trading during this year’s draft.
“Of course we are open to trading up or trading down,” Colbert said. “We will make all the calls. We will know what the cost is to go up. We will know what we can pick up to go down. We will leave ourselves open. But really, we are interested in, and we say it every year, [this year] we are picking at 30. I am sure there are 30 guys that can help us.”
If the Steelers do decide to trade down in the first round this year it would likely result in them going out of the round completely. It would be a monumental moment if such a trade happened as the Steelers have made a first-round selection in every NFL Draft since 1968. The last time they traded away their first-round draft pick was in 1967 when they acquired tight end Tony Jeter and defensive lineman Lloyd Voss from the Green Bay Packers in exchange for their 9th overall pick.
As far as other recent Steelers draft trades go, the team’s most recent moves included them moving up with the last time being in 2013. During the fourth-round of that year’s draft the Steelers sent a 2014 third-round pick to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for the 111th overall selection which they used to draft safety Shamarko Thomas. In 2012, the Steelers traded up during that draft as well as they gave fourth and six-round selections that year to the Washington Redskins in exchange for their fourth-round pick. The move up was for defensive tackle Alameda Ta’amu.
The last time the Steelers technically traded down during a draft was in 2010 and what a great decision that turned out to be. During that year’s draft the Steelers dealt their fifth-round pick to the Arizona Cardinals in exchange for cornerback Bryant McFadden in addition to their sixth-round selection, the 195th overall pick. The Steelers used that acquired sixth-round pick from the Cardinals to select wide receiver Antonio Brown.
The Steelers trade down during the 2009 NFL Draft also worked out well, all things considered. That year they traded a second and fourth-round selection in that year’s draft to the Denver Broncos in exchange for their two third-round selections. The Steelers selected wide receiver Mike Wallace with one of those two acquired third-round picks and he wound up being a huge contributor for the team during his four seasons in Pittsburgh.
This year the Steelers enter the draft with eight selections and while it’s next to impossible to predict if they’ll trade up or down during the three-day event, I’d put my money on them moving up on day-two and specifically in the third-round if they’re in range of a player they really want (ahem, Shaquill Griffin).
While a round-one trade out this year would certainly create quite a buzz, it would result in fans of the team having to wait until Friday until the team selects their first player.
Steelers History Of Trading Draft Picks In Kevin Colbert Era
| Year | Trade Explanation |
| 2001 | Traded Down – Traded 2001 first-round pick (#16 – Santana Moss) to Jets for 2001 first-round pick (#19 – Casey Hampton), 2001 fourth-round pick (#111 – Mathias Nkwenti), 2001 sixth-round pick (#181 – Rodney Bailey) on 04-21-2001 |
| 2001 | Traded Up – Traded 2001 second-round pick (#50 – Dominic Raiola), 2001 fourth-round pick (#112 – Carlos Polk) to Patriots for 2001 second-round pick (#39 – Kendrell Bell) on 04-21-2001 |
| 2003 | Traded Up – Traded 2003 first-round pick (#27 – Larry Johnson), 2003 third-round pick (#92 – Julian Battle), 2003 sixth-round pick (#200 – Brooks Bollinger) to Chiefs for 2003 first-round pick (#16 – Troy Polamalu) on 04-26-2003 |
| 2004 | Traded Up – Traded 2004 second-round pick (#44 – Bob Sanders), 2004 fourth-round pick (#107 – Kendyll Pope) to Colts for 2004 second-round pick (#38 – Ricardo Colclough) on 04-24-2004 |
| 2004 | Traded Player For Pick – Traded Troy Edwards to Rams for 2004 sixth-round pick (#194 – Matt Kranchick) on 08-30-2004 |
| 2005 | Traded Player For Pick – Traded Todd Fordham to Panthers for 2005 seventh-round pick (#228 – Shaun Nua) on 09-04-2004 |
| 2006 | Traded Up – Traded 2006 first-round pick (#32 – Mathias Kiwanuka), 2006 third-round pick (#96 – Gerris Wilkinson), 2006 fourth-round pick (#129 – Guy Whimper) to Giants for 2006 first-round pick (#25 – Santonio Holmes) on 04-29-2006 |
| 2006 | Traded Down – Traded 2006 second round pick (#64 – Tarvaris Jackson) to Vikings for 2006 third-round pick (#83 – Anthony Smith), 2006 third-round pick (#95 – Willie Reid) on 04-29-2006 |
| 2007 | Traded Up – Traded 2007 fourth-round pick (#119 – Allen Barbre), 2007 sixth round pick (#192 – Desmond Bishop) to Packers for 2007 fourth round pick (#112 – Daniel Sepulveda) on 04-29-2007 |
| 2008 | Traded Down – Traded 2008 fourth-round pick (#123 – Bryan Kehl) to Giants for 2008 fourth-round pick (#130 – Tony Hills), 2008 sixth-round pick (#194 – Ryan Mundy) on 04-27-2008 |
| 2009 | Traded Down – Traded 2009 second-round pick (#64 – Richard Quinn), 2009 fourth-round pick (#132 – Seth Olsen) to Broncos for two 2009 third-round picks (#79 – Kraig Urbik) (#84 – Mike Wallace) on 04-25-2009 |
| 2009 | Traded Player For Pick – Traded Sean Mahan to Buccaneers for 2009 seventh-round pick (#226 – A.Q. Shipley) on 09-02-2008 |
| 2010 | Traded Player For Pick – Traded Santonio Holmes to Jets for 2010 fifth-round pick (#155 – John Skelton) on 04-11-2010 |
| 2010 | Traded Pick For Player – Traded 2010 seventh-round pick (#225 – Syd’quan Thompson) to Buccaneers for Byron Leftwich on 04-20-2010 |
| 2010 | Traded Down Pick For Player – Traded 2010 fifth-round pick (#155 – John Skelton) to Cardinals for Bryant McFadden, 2010 sixth-round pick (#195 – Antonio Brown) on 04-24-2010 |
| 2012 | Traded Up – Traded 2012 fourth-round pick (#119 – Keenan Robinson), 2012 six-round pick (#193 – Tom Compton) to Redskins for 2012 fourth-round pick (#109 – Alameda Ta’amu) on 04-30-2012 |
| 2013 | Traded Up – Traded 2014 third-round pick (#83 – Louis Nix to Browns for 2013 fourth-round pick (#111 – Shamarko Thomas) on 05-9-2013 |
| 2015 | Traded Pick For Player – Traded 2016 fifth-round pick (#164 – Halapoulivaati Vaitai) to Eagles for Brandon Boykin on 08-1-2015 |
| 2015 | Traded Pick For Player – Traded 2016 sixth-round pick (#201 – Brandon Allen) to Jaguars for Josh Scobee on 08-31-2015 |
| 2015 | Traded Player For Pick – Traded Brad Wing to Giants for 2016 seventh-round pick (#229 – Demarcus Ayers) on 09-4-2015 |
| 2016 | Traded Player For Player – Traded 2018 sixth-round pick (#? – ?) to Browns for Justin Gilbert on 09-3-2016 |
