UPDATE (11:05 AM): ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports “four teams” have called the Steelers in trading up for #32.
On Monday, the Pittsburgh Steelers GM Omar Khan and head coach Mike Tomlin said they believed that they’d be receiving a number of calls for the No. 32 overall pick to open the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Turns out, they were spot on.
According to NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero, the Steelers started receiving calls for the No. 32 overall pick Thursday night while the first round was still in progress as teams looked to move up to the top of the second round, presumably due to the fact that quarterbacks Hendon Hooker and Will Levis, not to mention cornerback Joey Porter Jr. and defensive back Brian Branch, remained on the board.
NFL Network insider Mike Garafolo reported Thursday night that teams were trying to move up to No. 30 with the Philadelphia Eagles and No. 31 with the Kansas City Chiefs to get back into the first round for the likes of Levis and Hooker. The Eagles and Chiefs wanted to make their selections, which turned out to be Georgia EDGE Nolan Smith and Kansas State EDGE Felix Anudike-Uzomah, respectively.
Knowing that, the attention has very clearly shifted to Pittsburgh at No. 32 overall to open tonight’s second round, which was the pick acquired in the trade for Chase Claypool to Chicago at the trade deadline last season.
The draft board certainly broke in the Steelers’ favor, and now they have plenty of options at No. 3. Those include sitting tight and grabbing one of the guys Alex Kozora highlighted as Day 2 options or cashing in on the pick by trading down and recouping some of the draft capital lost in recent trades. The latest one was the trade up Thursday night to acquire Broderick Jones, which saw the Steelers send the No. 120 overall pick in the fourth round to New England in the deal.
It’s a great spot for the Steelers, one that is ripe with possibilities.
