Steelers may be wise to trade away first-round draft pick in 2021

The Pittsburgh Steelers had great success trading for Minkah Fitzpatrick last year. Here’s why trading away their first-round pick makes even more sense in 2020.

It’s not every day you will find me looking for reasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers to trade away their first-round draft choice. Like NFL general managers, I value first-round picks highly and we have seen how important they can be in rebuilding a franchise.

Take T.J. Watt for instance, though the Steelers did well in 2016 and earned just the 30th overall selection the following April, they were able to land a young edge defender that would ultimately become a cornerstone player to their franchise.

In theory, trading picks away seems like a good thing, but there are risks involved like anything else. One of the negatives is trading for a player who either has fewer years on their rookie deal or has already signed a massive contract extension.

However, if there is ever a time for the Steelers to look to trade away their first-round draft choice, it’s this year. The 2021 NFL Draft should feature plenty of talented players – headlined by names like quarterbacks Trever Lawrence and Justin Fields. However, we could see teams ‘missing’ on players at a historical rate.

With a number of talent-producing teams in the Big 10, Pac-12, and ACC canceling their football programs for the remainder of the calendar year, it’s going to be extremely difficult for NFL teams to evaluate talent in next April’s NFL Draft.

Players who could really use another year of experience under their belt could decide to come out early and eventually prove that they shouldn’t have. Without having a current season of updated game film to properly evaluate the talent set to enter the NFL Draft, teams could end up striking out left and right with their selections this year.

In addition, teams may not be able to properly assess potential draft prospects outside of the NFL Combine next year. For these reasons and more, Pittsburgh should consider trading away their first-round draft choice again in 2020. We recently witnessed a successful trade for Minkah Fitzpatrick. While we can’t expect things to work out quite so well, there is evidence to support that trading away your first-round pick for a player pays dividends more often than not. Here are some of the players who have been traded for first-round picks in the past decade:

Obviously, trading away your top draft choice just so you don’t miss would be unwise. The Steelers would need to get a promising haul in return. But if they can find a trade partner, this could be worth exploring.

An example might be Washington edge defender, Montez Sweat. Sweat is a terrific athlete who had just an average season as a rookie in 2019. But with the Washington Football Team selecting Ohio State stud, Chase Young with the second overall pick last year, perhaps they would be willing to part with Sweat with the return of a first-round pick.

If the Steelers believe they will lose JuJu Smith-Schuster or Cameron Heyward this offseason, they could try to find a wide receiver or a defensive lineman still on their rookie contract that fits the bill.

Obviously, it would have to be a player that a franchise is willing to part with, but we’ve seen how the results can favor the team trading for the proven player. The 2021 NFL Draft could be full of misses. Perhaps this is another great year for the Steelers to consider trading away their top draft choice.