After making Penn State EDGE Abdul Carter the No. 3 overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft, the New York Giants traded back into the first round to select Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart 25th overall. Based on a behind-the-scenes look at draft night, the Giants at least entertained the idea of trading up with the Steelers at No. 21.
In the end, the Steelers weren’t moving off their pick, selecting Oregon DL Derrick Harmon. Had he been off the board, it’s fair to wonder if Pittsburgh would’ve looked to make an aggressive move down the board.
The Steelers are referenced a handful of times in the Giants’ draft night video released Friday morning. The clearest reference came to New York GM Joe Schoen noting Pittsburgh was a team considering trading down.
“Pittsburgh’s a quarterback-needy team but they’re looking to move back, too,” Schoen says at one point during the night.
That’s consistent with pre-draft reporting that Pittsburgh was a candidate to move down in the draft, entering the weekend with only six total picks and just two selections in the top 120.
Schoen and the Giants didn’t seem concerned about the Steelers potentially taking Dart. Despite Pittsburgh showing moderate interest, bringing him in for a pre-draft visit, it seems those inside the NFL understood the Steelers’ direction would be defensive line and not quarterback be it Dart or Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders. Pittsburgh’s draft became front-seven focused, selecting two defensive linemen, an outside linebacker, and inside linebacker from the team’s seven selections.
The Giants were working the phones in the 20s and clearly had conversations with the Los Angeles Chargers at No. 22. It’s implied the same discussions took place with Pittsburgh.
“I can offer Pittsburgh the same deal,” Schoen says in another part of the video, though it was a comment made to the draft’s war room and not during a phone call.
In the end, New York traded the 34th, 99th, and a 2026 third-round pick to the Houston Texans for No. 25 to select Dart.
The most interesting but uncertain moment came when a deal the Giants thought they had fell through.
“It can definitely become stressful from that standpoint because you get into the 20s and now all of a sudden there’s players that general managers didn’t think were going to be there,” Schoen said after the draft. “So they go from, ‘Hey, we want to move back, there’s not going to be anyone we like [to] nah, we’re not going to take your deal because we’re going to take our player.'”
Footage then cut to him frustrated, unable to get a deal done with teams in the high 20s.
“All week, he said he would do this deal, and now he’s backing out on us,” Schoen told the draft room.
The immediate shot edited in after again referred to Pittsburgh.
“But the Steelers aren’t going to trade with Cleveland.”
It’s not known which team “backed out” of a deal with the Giants. It could be the Steelers, who perhaps saw Harmon fall into their laps and couldn’t pass on the chance. Omar Khan made clear Harmon was on the Steelers’ short list of players the team wouldn’t trade away from no matter what.
But the best educated guess is Schoen is referring to the Denver Broncos at No. 20. Based on the context of the conversations – Schoen wouldn’t reference the Steelers not doing a deal with the Browns if he knew they weren’t trading out at all – and the fact Denver capitalized on Texas DB Jahdae Barron, a player projected to be taken earlier who slipped to No. 20. Despite cornerback not being a major need, the value was too strong for Denver to pass and trade down with New York.
The editing of the video makes full context and information difficult and it’s worth watching the first three minutes that makes all references to Pittsburgh. Schoen is shown on the phone with several teams in the 20s in an attempt to work out a deal. It’s safe to say the Steelers were one of the teams on his list.
Ultimately, a deal couldn’t get done but both teams got their guys. The Steelers landed Harmon while the Giants came away with Dart.
