8 most disappointing trades in Pittsburgh Steelers history
By Tommy Jaggi
Steelers trade 6th-round pick for Justin Gilbert
This trade may not have cost Pittsburgh a lot of draft capital, but fans had really high hopes for Justin Gilbert, and he really let them down. Gilbert was a thoroughly productive cornerback in college at Oklahoma State. He recorded 5 interceptions as a sophomore back in 2011 and 7 more as a senior before declaring for the NFL Draft.
Unfortunately, his journey in the NFL was very different. Gilbert was the 8th overall pick by the Cleveland Browns in the 2014 NFL Draft. With size, length, and speed, most expected him to have a quality career in the NFL.
However, it should have been a major red flag that Cleveland was willing to cut ties with him just 9 games into his second NFL season. The Browns ditched Gilbert for Pittsburgh’s future 6th-round pick in 2018. In return Gilbert did essentially nothing for the Steelers.
The former 8th overall pick appeared in just 12 total games for the Steelers in 2016 (never making a start) before Kevin Colbert decided that this experiment was over. Based on his reputation and the hopes that fans had, this trade was a major disappointment.