The National Football League’s free agency period officially kicked off this week. A multitude of transactions have already been finalized, whether it was via free agency or via trade. This leads me to the conclusion that the Pittsburgh Steelers should be as active as ever going forward, but only for the right price due to their cap space situation.
The 2020-2021 NFL offseason has been unusual, to say the least. The world has been struck by the COVID-19 pandemic, but that has not stopped the Steelers and other NFL teams from being ever so active.
Several star players have been traded for what seems like bare minimum asking prices. Arguably the best wide receiver in the league in DeAndre Hopkins got traded to the Arizona Cardinals for only a second-round pick in 2020, a fourth-round pick in 2021, and David Johnson. Arizona also received a 2020 fourth-round selection.
Former Jacksonville Jaguars Calais Campbell and A.J. Bouye were two other players traded for bargain prices. Campbell was traded to the Baltimore Ravens for only a fifth-round selection in the 2020 NFL draft. On the other hand, Bouye was traded to the Denver Broncos for a fourth-round selection in 2020.
The madness continued on Wednesday as the Tennessee Titans trade long-time interior defensive linemen Jurrell Casey to the Denver Broncos for only a seventh-round pick. These moves are meant to free up existing cap space, and to earn draft pick compensation: However, the teams getting these star players in return are getting absolute steals.
This is why the Pittsburgh Steelers should do their due diligence with each organization that has been actively trading, this would be to see what players they are making available. If I was Kevin Colbert, the following would be the players I would try to pry from each the Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans, and Houston Texans rosters.