Are you looking forward to the Pittsburgh Steelers possibly making a trade in the month of June? If so, you might be disappointed to learn that the month of June isn’t a very popular one when it comes to NFL trades. On top of that, the trades that have happened in the month of June in recent history haven’t been very high-profile ones overall.
According to data from the NFL and Pro Sports Transactions, there have only been seven total trades in June and past the first day of the month, dating back to 2009. That’s a span of 15 years if you’re scoring at home. Quite honestly, most of those trades really aren’t memorable to fans who follow the NFL closely.
Two of those seven separate trades that occurred in the month of June, and past June 1, over the course of the last 15 years, took place in 2010. The first one included the New Orleans Saints trading OT Jammal Brown to the Washington Redskins. Specifically, Washington traded a 2011 third-round selection to New Orleans for Brown and a 2011 fifth-round selection. Brown, by the way, was reportedly disgruntled with the Saints ahead of that trade happening.
The other 2010 trade, the San Francisco 49ers sending WR Isaac Bruce to the St. Louis Rams on June 7 of that year, has a unique story. Bruce reportedly wanted to be traded to the Rams so that he could officially retire with the team for which he played most of his NFL career. He did just that a few days after that trade was completed.
In 2013, the Chicago Bears traded disgruntled OT Gabe Carimi to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a 2014 sixth-round draft pick. That trade reunited Carimi in Tampa Bay with offensive line coach Bob Bostad, whom the tackle played for during his college career at Wisconsin.
In 2014, the only player-for-player June trade in the last 15 years occurred. That deal between the Houston Texans and the Atlanta Falcons included QB T.J. Yates being exchanged for LB Akeem Dent.
In 2015, the 49ers traded veteran P Andy Lee to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for a 2017 seventh-round pick on June 8 of that year. At that time, Lee was no longer in the 49ers’ future plans after the team had selected Clemson punter Bradley Pinion in the fifth round of the 2015 NFL Draft.
In 2016, the Rams traded OT Greg Robinson to the Detroit Lions in exchange for a 2018 sixth-round pick. At the time, Robinson had been demoted in Los Angeles, and the Lions needed another tackle because Taylor Decker had recently undergone shoulder surgery.
Finally, in 2021, the Falcons traded veteran WR Julio Jones and a 2023 sixth-round pick to the Tennessee Titans in exchange for a 2022 second-round pick and a 2023 fourth-round pick.
So, what does all of this June trade history mean for the Steelers this June? Not much overall because history really has no bearing on the future when it comes to NFL trades in the month of June. That said, the Steelers trading for a player in the month of June would be a significant thing because of how infrequent deals happen in the NFL at this point in the offseason.
At this point of the offseason, there’s been no hard evidence that the Steelers will trade for any player in the month of June. However, there has been tons of speculation that they will just the same. Most of that speculation has obviously been tied to the Steelers possibly trading for a wide receiver in June, especially now that we have crossed over June 1.
Should the Steelers ultimately not trade for a player in the month of June, it still doesn’t mean that they won’t or can’t execute one later in the offseason. After all, the Steelers have a history of adding players to their offseason roster long after the mandatory minicamp ends and even up until right before the regular season gets underway. Some of those late offseason additions have come via trades as well.
