4 takeaways from Steelers pre-draft press conference with Kevin Colbert

Trading up sounds very unlikely

For fans still holding out a glimmer of hope that the Steelers could trade up for a player like Justin Fields on draft day, you may not want to hold your breath. While Kevin Colbert claimed that just about everything was on the table for Pittsburgh in round one, he made it a point to say that trading up probably is not going to be among their potential options – using the words “very doubtful” to describe the Steelers chances of trading up this year.

While I can understand that the team wants to be as competitive as possible during a rapidly-closing Super Bowl window, it’s also important to consider the circumstances. Ben Roethlisberger is a 39-year-old quarterback coming off one of the worst stretches of games in his NFL career. Combine that with the fact that the 2021 quarterback class is 4-5 deep with first-round players, and the Steelers shouldn’t rule this out.

Perhaps what Colbert was meaning is that the situation would have to be just right and not cost too much draft capital in order to pull off this trade. Considering the team just moved up into the top-10 for a linebacker two years ago, one would assume that they would be even more open to doing so for a potential franchise quarterback. However, based on Colbert’s statements, a trade-up of any sort almost seems out of the question this year.