Bad trades for Steelers
Another thing that has frustrated me about Kevin Colbert over the past several years are some of the head-scratching decisions he has made when it comes to trades. While Minkah Fitzpatrick was an unexpected blockbuster move that really turned out in Pittsburgh’s favor, Colbert has traded away valuable draft capital nearly every year for questionable one-year rentals.
Last year, the Steelers gave the New York Jets their fifth-round pick (with a seventh-round swap) to essentially rent Avery Williamson for 8 games. This clearly was not worth the cost, as Williamson was nothing more than a replacement-level, two-down linebacker who had some glaring holes in pass coverage.
Pittsburgh did something similar the year prior by trading for an unspectacular backup tight end, Nick Vannett. The veteran tight end played just 13 games for the Steelers at the price of a fifth-round pick that could have been used to bolster this roster.
Even this year, Colbert made an interesting decision to trade a future fourth-rounder to move back into the draft and select Isaiahh Loudermilk — a player that draft experts believed should have been selected in the sixth round. I’m hoping the Steelers were right with this one, but Colbert’s questionable trades have made it less possible for Pittsburgh to hit on players later in the draft in recent years.