Steelers expansion draft plan if a new team joined the NFL

The Steelers don’t seem to be facing an expansion draft anytime soon but let’s have some fun with it.

The NHL just recently held an expansion draft for their next franchise, the Seattle Kraken. They now hold 32 teams in their league and each major sport has its own rules when it comes to the new franchise forming a roster. Expansion drafts are always a curious time in league histories but what if the NFL added a new franchise tomorrow that will be drafting players immediately?

Well, this article will dissect how the Steelers would plan for an expansion draft going forward with the current makeup of their roster. It does not seem likely that the NFL has any plans to expand from their 32 team construction any higher but never say never. As profits and money rise, it’s possible that the league could eventually add additional teams sometime in the distant future.

Rules

Rules for the past NFL expansion drafts have mostly seen each team provide a list of five players that are exposed for the expansion team to select. That new squad can select a player from that list and then the team would then be able to subtract a player from that list. The expansion team could come back and select multiple players from a team until they run out of players from a specific franchise.

This article will implement those rules as well as neglecting rookies, undrafted free agents, and special teamers from the exposed list. This simulation will also have players from the Steelers most recent 53 man roster projection coming out of training camp for the Steelers, which you can see here. Five of these players will be left available for this fictional franchise to select from, so let’s see who gets plucked away from the black and gold.