With so many holes and questions on the roster, these are the five best-case scenarios for the Steelers during the 2021 training camp.
The Steelers enter this training camp a far different team than last year. Gone are nine players who started last season, and in their place is a mix of rising veterans, rookies, and complete unknowns. While there will certainly be some concerns and bad news to come out of camp, the team has to bank on some positive news making its way out of camp. Here are the Steelers’ five best-case scenarios for their 2021 training camp. Note: this list won’t include players staying healthy, as that is a constant best case scenario that isn’t unique to this training camp alone.
Steelers’ backups are used as trade bait
Every team in the league has a different set of priorities and strengths once they enter camp. Every team has strong and weak positions naturally, and camp provides a time to assess their current talent and make additions where needed. The Steelers are no different here, but one way for them to maximize their depth is by trading some of it on before cut-down day.
Names like Justin Layne, Isaiah Buggs, and potentially even a backup offensive linemen could prove themselves valuable in camp but could lose out to another player for a roster spot. If the Steelers can orchestrate a trade or two, they can get some sort of draft or player capital out of them when the original plan was to just cut them. No, this wouldn’t net anything more than a late-round pick or a potential player for player swap, but it would still strengthen the team going forward. Look for some of the better camp players to be dangled as trade bait by the end of camp.