4 reasons swapping Steven Nelson for JuJu Smith-Schuster was a bad move for Steelers

Steelers could be forced to draft cornerback early

With a number of pressing needs as we approach the 2021 NFL Draft, I would hate for the Steelers to be pigeonholed into drafting one specific position early, but it looks like that is exactly what could happen for Pittsburgh this year. While offensive line and running back are labeled as two of their greatest needs, we can certainly add cornerback to that list now.

Joe Haden could be in the last year of his NFL career, and we still don’t know how Cameron Sutton is going to perform in a full-time role with the team. Without a lot of reason to believe that anyone else will be the future at the position for Pittsburgh, they could look to draft a cornerback early – something that nobody really anticipated they would do in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Now it appears as though cornerback isn’t something we can rule out as early as the first round. Pittsburgh recently sent their brass to Georgia’s Pro Day, and perhaps they were really eying cornerbacks Eric Stokes and Tyson Campbell in the first two rounds. Despite all of their needs, the Steelers will certainly need to make an effort to sure up the cornerback position after deciding to keep JuJu instead of Steven Nelson.

In most years, JuJu Smith-Schuster would still be considered a bargain at just $8 million for one year, but the fact that his availability to the team comes at the expense of Steven Nelson is more than concerning to me. Let’s hope the Steelers know what they are doing here because I’m not convinced that the trade-off will be worth it.