4 veterans the Steelers could trade away as they begin to rebuild
By Tommy Jaggi
The Steelers are at the beginning stages of a rebuild. Here are four veterans who they could look to trade this offseason.
The Steelers did as much as they could for their veteran quarterback in 2020. After backloading several more contracts and spending up to the cap ceiling in an effort to keep their roster intact for one more year, Pittsburgh made sure that Ben Roethlisberger was given every chance to make one final Super Bowl run.
Though Big Ben still has one year remaining on his contract, the harsh reality is that Pittsburgh’s Super Bowl window has been slammed shut after they were embarrassed by the Cleveland Browns in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. The Steelers have a number of quality players who are about to test the market and no money to offer them an extension. Next season, Pittsburgh will undoubtedly have a less talented roster and a quarterback who will be another year older.
Because of the major changes that will take place this offseason (and have already taken place with the coaching staff), the Steelers should begin their rebuild now. Though we would certainly like them to be competitive in 2021, there’s no sense in prolonging the inevitable and they need to start looking towards the future. Here are four veteran players they could attempt to trade away as they look to rebuild their roster:
OG David DeCastro
As one of the best guards in Pittsburgh Steelers history, we would like to see David DeCastro retire with the team that drafted him in the first round back in 2012. But after a down season in 2020 and a sizeable cap hit in 2021, Pittsburgh should see what he would be worth on the market.
Now in his 30s and coming off one of the worst seasons of his career, DeCastro isn’t going to fetch anything close to a first-round pick in a trade. However, there may not be a lot of sense in keeping him on the roster if Pittsburgh starts a total rebuild. If the Steelers could fetch an early day-three pick to dump most of his $14.3 million cap hit, it may be worth it to move him.