Are you hoping that the Pittsburgh Steelers will trade up or down in the first-round of the 2021 NFL Draft? If you are hoping for the latter, I would temper those hopes just a tad between now and the first night of the draft as the Steelers just haven’t done a lot of first-round trading back dating back to 2000, the first year in Pittsburgh for general manager Kevin Colbert with the team.
While Colbert has made quite a few trades during actual drafts so far in his 20 seasons with the Steelers, only three times has he moved up in the first-round of a draft during the annual event. The last time he did so was way back in 2019 when he moved the Steelers up from No. 20 overall in the first-round to No. 10 overall to select inside linebacker Devin Bush. Prior to the 2019 trade up for Bush, the last time Colbert moved up in a draft was way back in 2006 when he moved the Steelers up from No. 32 overall in the first-round to No. 25 overall to select wide receiver Santonio Holmes. Three years prior to that in 2003, Colbert moved the Steelers up in the first-round from 27th overall to 16th overall to select safety Troy Polamalu.
Colbert, however, has moved up a few times in a second-round of a draft to get a player the Steelers coveted. The last time, however, that Colbert did move up in a second-round was in 2004 when he moved the Steelers from 44th overall to 38th overall to select cornerback Ricardo Colclough. Colbert also moved the Steelers up in 2001 from 50th overall to 39th overall to select linebacker Kendrell Bell.
As far as trading down in the first round of a draft goes, only once has Colbert done so and that lone transaction came back in 2001 when he moved the Steelers down from 16th overall to 19th overall to ultimately select nose tackle Casey Hampton. The last time that Colbert traded down in any round during a draft was in 2010 and that deal included the team also acquiring a player in cornerback Bryant McFadden. That deal saw the Steelers give up a fifth-round selection in exchange for McFadden and a sixth-round selection that same year. That sixth-round selection was used on wide receiver Antonio Brown.
Obviously, it’s hard to predict if the Steelers will ultimately make any trades during this year’s draft, but with the team currently set to make 8 selections with two of those coming in the fourth-round and two others in the seventh-round, Colbert does have a tiny bit of draft capital to work with and especially if he wants to move up some in the second-round.
The Steelers are also likely to receive a few compensatory selections in the 2022 NFL Draft next offseason and thus Colbert might decide to work with those presumed selections in place as well.
Last year during the draft, the Steelers did not make any trades.
Steelers History Of Trading Picks During Drafts 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 2018 | Traded Player For Pick – Traded Martavis Bryant to Raiders for 2018 third-round pick (#79 – Rasheem Green) on 04-26-2018 |
| 2018 | Traded Up –Traded 2018 third-round pick (#79 – Rasheem Green), 2018 seventh-round pick (#220 – Alex McGough) to Seahawks for 2018 third-round pick (#76 – Mason Rudolph) on 04-27-2018 |
| 2019 | Traded Up –Traded 2019 first-round pick (#20 – Noah Fant), 2019 second-round pick (#52 – Drew Sample), 2020 third-round pick (#83 – Lloyd Cushenberry) to Broncos for 2019 first-round pick (#10 – Devin Bush) on 04-25-2019 |
