Category: NFL Football

Pittsburgh has a choice to make with the 20th overall pick.

The Pittsburgh Steelers could go in several directions with their draft picks in the 2024 NFL Draft. The only areas that one could argue they don’t need to address are kicker, punter, tight end, and running back. Even after they added quarterback Russell Wilson and traded for quarterback Justin Fields, questions remain there regarding the future at the position. It’s also possible they overestimated their ability to replace wide receiver Diontae Johnson, who they traded to the Carolina Panthers in early March.

With this many needs in play, the Steelers could opt against accepting any offers they may have, and let the chips fall to them in Round 1, where they hold the 20th overall pick in this year’s draft. There’s also the argument that an aggressive trade-up is needed to “get your guy.” However, they have needs everywhere. Or, they could elect to trade down and pick up additional capital.

Before exploring the best-case scenario for the black and gold, let’s take a look at the Steelers’ biggest needs approaching Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft.

Steelers draft needs in 2024

1. Center — The Steelers don’t have an opening day option that could come and start for them. They may not even have quality depth.
2. Cornerback — The Steelers don’t have much if any depth behind Joey Porter Jr. and the other presumed starter Donte Jackson.
3. Wide receiver — It’s George Pickens and… barely anybody else. That’s not going to get it done. They need another option in the mix alongside Pickens, newly acquired Van Jefferson and Calvin Austin III.
4. Offensive tackle — If the Steelers are serious about making a championship run, they need to get Dan Moore Jr. onto the bench and out of the starting lineup. As soon as possible.
5. Defensive line — Both Larry Ogunjobi and stalwart Cam Heyward could both be gone in 2025, leaving just former second-round pick Keeanu Benton in play as a starter.
6. Inside linebacker — The Steelers have to add to the group with a draft pick.

The argument for the Steelers staying put at pick No. 20

The option of staying put at their current draft selections is a reasonable one. Several NFL teams are in a desperate search for their franchise quarterback. They will be jockeying to get up to the top of the draft to be in a position to select one of the upper-echelon options.

USC quarterback Caleb Williams is fully expected to be the first quarterback drafted at the number one overall pick. After that is for sure when business will start to pick up, with UNC quarterback Drake Maye and LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels as the best of the remaining options at the position. Even though the rest of the falls off a bit after those three players, that never stops teams from being over-aggressive and forcing the issue by over-drafting quarterbacks, with plenty of teams like the Vikings, Raiders and Broncos who could be in the mix.

That will push talent down the draft board, meaning that the Steelers could have their choice of players they want to choose from in the first round of the draft on Thursday, April 26, 2024. If the Steelers decide to finally address their hole at the center position, they should have their choice of options available at pick No. 20. Or, they could turn to some of their other needs and decide to look elsewhere. In Round 1, there’s still the argument that the Steelers can do just about whatever they want to do, even picking as late as No. 20.

The argument for trading back

The Steelers may give some consideration to trading down in the 2024 NFL Draft, especially in Round 1. They do not have a selection in either rounds five or seven. They will have to wait for 58 selections to occur between their fourth-round selection pick number 119, and their sixth-round selection number 178. That is a long time between draft picks, and the team has several needs they still need to address.

Trading back a couple of times would give them the flexibility to be able to hit on those additional needs. There’s not only the needs that they have, but they also need to add some depth across several areas of the team.

The argument for trading up

Fortune favors the bold. It would make more sense to hit the more pressing needs at the center, cornerback, wide receiver, and tackle with higher quality options with players who wouldn’t otherwise be available later by standing pat. The team has become more aggressive than seemingly ever this off-season with the moves they have made. They should carry that mindset into the 2024 NFL Draft if they identify several players they feel they have to have. Then they should do whatever need to do to come out of the draft with as many names from that list as possible

Arguably, a quantity-over-quality approach will not get this team over the hump. For starters, they need to get much more out of the center position than they have gotten the past three seasons with Mason Cole. Do they need the next great Steelers center? Maybe, but even if they don’t opt for one in Round 1, they can find a long-term, competent option with a much higher ceiling in Round 2 or later.

So…

We heard in March it was highly unlikely the Steelers would exercise the fifth-year option on Justin Fields‘ rookie contract. With the option deadline coming in just more than a week, Pittsburgh indeed appears to have no plans of committing to guaranteed Fields money in 2025.

The Steelers are expected to decline an option that would pay Fields $25.7MM fully guaranteed next year, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter tweets. Teams have until May 2 to exercise or decline options; this has loomed as one of the more predictable option calls for a bit now.

Fields’ value around the league turned out to be far lower than many expected, as the Bears ended up settling for a conditional sixth-round pick for a player who has proven electric as a runner but inconsistent as a passer through three seasons. Still, the Steelers made it clear upon acquiring Fields, 25, they expect him to begin the season as a backup to Russell Wilson. Mike Tomlin has since pried the door open for competition, but as of now, the trade acquisition is on track to go from three-year Chicago starter to Pittsburgh backup.

Both Wilson and Fields, when the option is officially declined, will be going into contract years in 2024. The former signed for the veteran minimum, barely cutting into the record-setting dead money sum the Broncos face. Fields is under contract for $1.62MM this season. Because Fields never made a Pro Bowl but qualified as a full-time player under the option formula, his option number checked in on Tier 3 of the four-tiered structure that came about when the 2020 CBA ushered in fully guaranteed options.

While the Steelers have both Wilson and Fields in contract years, a March report suggested the team is considering keeping both players beyond 2024. This would be a highly unlikely scenario to pull off, given the starting histories each player brings. Neither would stand to be interested in being an assured backup in 2025. This makes a potential 2024 trade worth monitoring; the Steelers have Kyle Allen in place as their third-stringer presently.

With the team not planning to adjust a negotiating policy that mandates no in-season contract talks, Wilson and Fields will be set to play out their current deals. The Steelers are interested in revisiting Wilson’s pact, for now at least, in 2025. It will be interesting to see how Fields factors into this equation, seeing as he is 10 years younger than Wilson, who will turn 36 this season.

We know that the Steelers have been identified as a team that could be likely to trade for a veteran wide receiver this offseason, but what about teams looking for wide receivers in the first round? A lot of focus has been placed on teams looking to draft quarterbacks, per usual, but Jason La Canfora of The Washington Post provided us with the names of a few teams targeting pass-catchers on Day 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft. La Canfora identifies the Cardinals, Bears, Colts, Bills, 49ers, and Chiefs as the likely suspects.

Some of these, we’ve heard plenty about already. At No. 4 overall, the Cardinals sit in the line of picks that are all expected to be quarterbacks, according to most mock drafts, meaning they are expected to trade down from the position. Many see them trading back to No. 6, allowing the Giants to select Daniel Jones‘ potential replacement. This would leave them in line to draft the class’s top receiver prospect, Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. This could provide Arizona with a new top receiver after the departure of Marquise Brown to Kansas City.

This would require the Chargers to pass on wide receiver, a huge position of need after watching both Keenan Allen and Mike Williams depart this offseason. While it wouldn’t be much of a surprise to see Los Angeles select Harrison, new general manager Joe Hortiz (from Baltimore) has shown an affinity for Notre Dame prospects like Ronnie Stanley and Kyle Hamilton. Combine that with the addition of new offensive coordinator Greg Roman, and connections to Notre Dame offensive tackle Joe Alt make all the sense in the world. Roman’s run-heavy offensive mentality makes tackle a bigger priority than receiver.

Wide receiver has been seen as less of a priority for the Bears after they acquired Allen in a trade from the Chargers. Still, drafting a top receiver prospect like LSU’s Malik Nabers or Washington’s Rome Odunze could give projected new quarterback Caleb Williams a strong trio of targets with Allen and DJ Moore. Chicago could pair the draft’s QB1 with a potential WR1 as ESPN’s Matt Miller tells us that there are some teams in the NFL who see Nabers and Odunze as better prospects than Harrison. The three receivers are closer than people may think on most draft boards and their order of preference could come down to scheme and fit.

In Indianapolis, the Colts would love to bring in a first-round receiver for second-year quarterback Anthony Richardson. Josh Downs and Alec Pierce were decent options behind Michael Pittman Jr., but having a true weapon across the field could really help both Richardson and Pittman. If Harrison, Nabers, and Odunze find their way off the board by the time the Colts select at No. 15, LSU’s Brian Thomas Jr. could fall into their lap, though Odunze could still be available if nobody takes a flyer on him as the best player available regardless of position.

At the back end of the first round, wide receiver has become a big need for the Bills after they watched Gabriel Davis depart in free agency and traded away Stefon Diggs to the Texans. Khalil Shakir now leads the position room, and though the top four receivers aren’t expected to be available by the 28th pick, pairing Shakir with Texas’ Adonai Mitchell, FSU’s Keon Coleman, or Florida’s Ricky Pearsall could be productive.

As for the 49ers and Chiefs in the last two picks of the draft, San Francisco is a bit of surprise inclusion after recently paying Deebo Samuel and still currently denying that Brandon Aiyuk is available via trade. Still, if Aiyuk is potentially on the way out, taking flyer on Mitchell, Coleman, or Pearsall could work out.

As for Kansas City, they’ve tried their fair share of veteran free agent additions for Patrick Mahomes, and will do so again with the addition of Brown this offseason, as well as some draft picks in the second round or later. We’ve seen the Chiefs have success with smaller wide receivers with speed, so bringing in Georgia’s Ladd McConkey, Michigan’s Roman Wilson, or Texas’ Xavier Worthy could make a lot of sense.

Whoever doesn’t hear their name called on the first night of the draft shouldn’t have to wait too long. Dane Brugler of The Athletic’s latest mock draft showed the Panthers selecting McConkey with their first pick of the draft, which will be the first pick of the second round. If McConkey is already off the board, Wilson and Worthy offer similar skill sets.

It’s a deep class for wide receivers this year. Top prospects like Harrison, Nabers, Odunze, and Thomas are considered no-brainers as first-round picks. An early run on those four could see many of the pass-catchers behind them find their way into the first round, as well. Even so there are nearly 20 wideouts with a projected third-round grade or better. Not only is this a wide receiver class with lots of talent up top, but talent throughout will benefit teams who need receivers but will have to target other positions of need first.

Despite adding big names at quarterback like Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, the Steelers’ passing attack this year will still depend on their wide receiving corps. After trading away Diontae Johnson and watching Allen Robinson depart in free agency, Pittsburgh has been on a search for another veteran receiver to pair with budding star George Pickens, per Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

It’s not like the Steelers haven’t addressed the position since Johnson and Robinson’s departures. The team has added experienced receivers like Van Jefferson and Quez Watkins, but despite strong sophomore campaigns from both players, neither has shown the ability to be a consistent, reliable supporting wide receiver. Perhaps Pittsburgh plans to return Cordarrelle Patterson to his wide receiver roots, but more likely, the team will continue looking to add an experienced veteran.

We’ve seen the Steelers kick the tires on plenty of such free agents so far this offseason. They brought in division-rival Tyler Boyd, who played at nearby Pitt in college, but are reportedly out of the running after making a disappointing offer. The team also brought in former Chargers veteran Mike Williams, who could’ve worked well alongside Pickens after spending years as WR2 behind Keenan Allen, but Williams ultimately landed with Aaron Rodgers and the Jets.

Now, Dulac reports that we can add Brandon Aiyuk to that list of veteran wideouts that have piqued the Steelers’ interest. Aiyuk is not a free agent, so this isn’t a situation in which Pittsburgh can host the 49ers receiver and evaluate him in person. Also, despite the two sides being far apart in extension negotiations, Aiyuk has not delivered a trade request to the 49ers. In fact, San Francisco is reportedly actively rebuffing trade inquiries from outside parties.

As much as the Steelers would like to lure Aiyuk to Pittsburgh, there’s only so much they can do without the 49ers deciding to relent and participate. Until then, Pittsburgh will have to continue taking swings elsewhere. Boyd remains available. As do free agents Hunter Renfrow, Odell Beckham Jr., Michael Gallup, and Michael Thomas. Several veteran names are sitting in free agency. The Steelers just need to determine if any are the right fit for their new-look offense.