Moving Martavis Bryant makes sense for the Pittsburgh Steelers

Ask and you shall receive should be the rule of the road for Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Martavis Bryant.

According to ESPN’s Dan Graziano, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver, Martavis Bryant, has requested a trade from the team. Only six games into his first season since a year-long drug suspension it appears that Bryant is unhappy with the productivity he’s able to establish in Pittsburgh and wants out.

While early indications show that the Steelers don’t plan to move the wideout, maybe they should.

Bryant is a stud in the NFL. Even if he’s only put up 17 receptions for 231 yards and a touchdown this season, he’s shown he could be the superstar Pittsburgh hoped he could be after his return to football.

Pittsburgh would be losing a key piece to this offense if they traded Bryant, but the way the offense is being run this season, it wouldn’t be significant enough to hurt this team long-term. While Bryant does draw attention away from Antonio Brown and the rest of the receiving core, he isn’t grabbing Ben Roethlisberger’s attention enough to be a factor in the passing game.

Must Read: 15 greatest draft steals in Steelers history

Right now, he’s a distraction to the defense. Taking away pressure from AB is a huge factor in this team’s success, but not worthy enough not to contemplate moving him.

There’s also JuJu Smith-Schuster. The rookie sensation is only putting up Bryant type numbers, 15 receptions, 192 yards and two scores, but in Pittsburgh’s offense, that’s all you ned.

Roethlisberger has always made it known that his first target is Brown. No matter what the route is or who’s on the field, AB is the first receiver the quarterback looks to on the field.

Maybe in theory this offensive attack shouldn’t work, but time and time again it proves to. It’d be nice to utilize the trio of dynamic receivers Pittsburgh has, but until proven otherwise, giving the ball to AB time and time again is a method that will work.

Then, there’s the factor of compensation. Bryant isn’t putting up crazy numbers which could drag his trade value down for many teams. However, his potential is still high and even without a breakout game his value in this league remains relevant enough to consider a move.

The Steelers don’t necessarily need a starter for any position. By trading Bryant, it’d most likely be a draft pick scenario, which, while decreasing the value of the trade could be exactly what the Steelers are looking for.

Like this past season, the NFL Draft class in 2018 is looking like a group of all stars. Pittsburgh could try to use Bryant as a way of picking up an extra early round pick, possibly as high as the second round.

What they’d use this pick on will be unknown until draft time, but looking into the future, adding depth in the secondary or maybe even bringing in another tight end could be the next step in perfecting this team moving forward.

Again, none of this is necessarily needed for the Steelers. Bryant is under contract until 2018 and if the Steelers want, they can easily keep him for the season and decide on the future come February.

Either way, Pittsburgh looks to be in good shape moving forward. While they likely won’t move Bryant before the end of the season, they should. Even if everyone isn’t on board with the move, getting something for a player who’s productivity could be replaced is a smart move in a business aspect.

Next: Steelers lose two starters in Kansas City

With two weeks before the trade deadline, storylines surrounding this situation should begin to fly. For all updates following this news, make sure to follow Still Curtain.